Architects and planners in this Chinese city have designed an innovative way to make way for an essential train route – by building it through the centre of a block of buildings.
The unusual train track goes directly through the 19-storey residential building in the “emerging mega-city” of Chongqing, located in the southwest corner of the nation.
Chongqing Rail Transit No.2 and the building have been built across each other, a creative solution for a lack of space in the city flooded with skyscrapers.
It’s convenient for residents in the high-rise building, who can hop on the train at Liziba Station, located on the sixth to the eighth floor of the building.
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Noise reduction equipment are installed at the station meaning the train only makes the noise similar to a standard dishwasher.
With more than 49 million residents packed into the urban sprawl, the city’s planners have had to think up some creative infrastructure solutions for the limited space they have.
“Our city is very heavily built upon and can that can make finding room for roads and railway lines a real challenge,” a city transport spokesperson said.
The monorail station opened in 2004 in the area known as ‘Mountain City’, due to the area’s extremely hilly terrain.