【速報】武漢T

Breaking News!

Guanggu Trams in Wuhan are officially announced to open on the 18th January!

(Right now it's still in trial operation.)

So, Wuhan is now basically the second city to have two tram systems operating in different districts, succeeding Nanjing. The Guanggu District (translated as optical valley) is a huge business district composed of shopping malls, company HQs, research facilities as well as residential area, as its name suggests. It is therefore no surprise that this tiny system of simply two lines can have the highest daily ridership of the nation in the future. 

Another peculiar thing about this system is that, although shown in map as T1 and T2, it is actually operated into 6 modes! 

So basically, mode 1 from A to D, mode 2 from A to B, mode 3 from A to C, mode 4 from C to D, mode 5 from C to B, and mode 6 from D to B. 

Moreover, this confusing system is shown exactly the same on the ticket machines as on the map above with only a tiny legend on the lower right.

So this is the map shown on the screen, still describing the system as two lines...

...whereas you need to select your "mode" from the options below.

So this is why I'm bewildered. It seems like it's trying to copy the European mode of trunk lines with various branch lines, but it's totally something different. Maybe it is the so-called innovation? I think it's more than likely to be inspired by the design in Shenzhen... There will be indeed no need to transfer between the two lines, though, and might be even more convenient if constructed properly. 

As usual you can see many of the previews below:

Yes, I know, trams in China have their own viaducts...