Construction of China’s “sky train” – its first public suspension railway line – can go ahead after tests have been successfully completed on a test track. The lithium-battery-powered suspension railway line in Chengdu, Sichuan province, began trial operations in September. The train, dubbed the “sky train” by media, will be able to travel at speeds of up to about 60km/h, which is similar to the speed of subway trains. It was innovative because it was powered by a lithium battery rather than the high-voltage electricity used by existing suspension railways in Germany and Japan. The black and white train, which will hang from a rail eight meters above ground, was tested along a 1.4 km route at Zhongtang’s test site, which is not open to the public. Each suspension railway carriage is capable of carrying up to 230 people. Zhongtang Skytrain Group, a newly registered company that has developed the suspension railway, said Chengdu was planning two different routes for its suspension trains. One route will travel to the city’s tourist attractions, with construction work starting next year. The other line, stretching 20 km, will run from Shuangliu Airport to the center of Shuangliu county. Its construction costs per kilometer were between one-eighth and one-fifth of the cost of building a subway and could be completed within one year. The world’s first suspension monorail was built in the beginning of last century in Wuppertal, Germany.