Next photo is the location where I took the above photos. The Translohr tram way is constructed in the township of Zhangjiang which is in the heartland area of Pudong. Nowadays Zhangjiang is readily accessible from downtown Shanghai since it is linked by Metro Line 2.
Longitudinal streets in Zhangjiang are named after foreingn scientists such as Charles Darwin, Marie Currie, Issac Newton, in this case Daerwen (Charles Darwin) Road; and latitudinal streets are named after ancient Chinese scientists, in this case Huatuo, a herblist/accupuncturist/surgeon/anethesiologist.
But on the morming of December 30th, 2009, while listening to radio news on AM channel 990, I suddenly heard the breaking news that Translohr tram was to start revenue service on the following morning. Since AM 990 was the municipal government radio station, this was the official announcement of the exact date of service operation of the long anticipated tram line, and I was absolutely thrilled by the news.
It was not until Friday, January 8th, the day before my daparture from Shanghai back to Edmonton, when I finally had a chance to ride the cutting edge tram. The ridership was OK given the service was only inaugurated one week ago. The speed limit was 40km/hr, but it was a very smooth ride, smoother than the shoddy Sunwin trolley-bus. To open the door, one would have to press the green door button to activate the door, and each tram was crewed by one conductor whose responsibitlity was to supervisor the fare payment, and a driver. I gradually realized that in a place as vastly open as Shanghai, Zhangjiang High Tech was the place best suited for the Translohr. Here it was not far from downtown Shanghai and linked by an existing subway line, traffic was relatively light to cause conflict with the tram way, and with the establishment of industrial park, provided a steady flow of ridership. After the ride, I gave a sincere well wish to this rubber tire tram system for her eventual success and very bright future.
