Lane-Hovering Land Airbus Could Be Coming to China

By: | July 23rd, 2014

There was a lot of hype when the concept of a ‘3D Fast Bus’ (also called a straddling bus, straddle bus or tunnel bus) was first introduced. The idea was to make a kind of giant bus or train that straddles the street and allows cars to drive right under it. It had all of the benefits of a subway but without the costs of digging tunnels.

Three years have now passed and the buzz has died down since no one has actually implemented the 3D Fast Bus. That could all be changing now.

Engineering refinement TBS China, which is a large shipping company, has now unveiled a ‘3D Fast Bus’ they’re calling ‘Land Airbus.’ This concept could actually hit the streets of China as Land Airbus presents a new generation of high-level rail transport.

Here are some of its features:

  • Land Airbus can operate even when road traffic in the city is at a standstill.
  • It has a capacity of 300 passengers.
  • There is no need for an expensive viaduct structure; Land Airbus only needs tracks like a tram.
  • Land Airbus is unaffected by traffic and it doesn’t add to traffic either.
  • The passenger space in Land Airbus is almost completely surrounded by windows and provides unique views of the city.

TBS China claims that if we compare Land Airbus to Metro, Land Airbus, in spite of having almost the same passenger capacity, would cost less and is much safer as well.

Nidhi Goyal

Nidhi is a gold medalist Post Graduate in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences.

More articles from Industry Tap...