The Chinese railway construction company announced that it has developed a new vehicle that combines the features of an electric train and a bus.

An Autonomous Rail Rapid Transit (APT) was designed and constructed by the research division of CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive Co Ltd, which produces key elements for China’s high-speed railway.

The basic model of the train-bus has three carriages with a capacity of 300 people.

The equipment with five cars can carry up to 500 passengers. According to the developers, this design accommodates more people and makes it easier to maneuver than an ordinary bus. Transport uses an electric drive and can travel 40 km at a single charge at a top speed of 70 km / h.

According to him, most of the medium and small cities can not afford expensive transport systems in the form of, for example, the metro, which, in addition, are also being built for a very long time. Thus, the laying of a kilometer of the subway can cost from 400 to 700 million yuan (from 58 to 102 million US dollars).

According to the authors of the project, the electric composition in standard equipment costs about 15 million yuan (2.2 million dollars).

According to the plans of the government of Zhuzhou City (Hunan Province), the first operating line of 6.5 km in length will be built through the city center, and the system will be operational in 2018.