The Zhuhai tram network was a

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

system serving the city of

Zhuhai Zhuhai; Yale romanization of Cantonese, Yale: ''Jyūhói''; Chinese postal romanization, also known as Chuhai is a prefecture-level city located on the west bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern ...

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

, China. The first section of Line 1 started trial operation on November 7, 2014 with the full line scheduled initially to open by August 2015 and finally opened on June 13, 2017 and runs from Haitian Gardens to Shangchong. However, facing the problems of frequent breakdowns and low passenger flow, the operation of Zhuhai Tram Line 1 was never carried out smoothly and the Government decided to stop its operation in January 2021 and then to dismantle it in May 2024. A three-line network was planned. Line 1 uses

AnsaldoBreda Hitachi Rail Italy S.p.A. is a multinational rolling stock manufacturer company based in Pistoia, Italy. Formerly AnsaldoBreda S.p.A., a subsidiary of state-owned Finmeccanica, the company was sold in 2015 to Hitachi Rail of Japan. After the dea ...

Sirio Sirio may refer to: * ''Sirio'' (album), 2022 album by Lazza * Sirio Carrapa (born 1952), Italian mystic * Sirio Maccioni (1932–2020), restaurateur and author based in New York City * , a Maltese and Panamanian train ferry * , an Italian immig ...

trams, license built at

CRRC Dalian CRRC Dalian Co., Ltd. (), often abbreviated as DLoco, is a company located in Dalian, Liaoning Province, China, producing railway locomotives, multiple units and diesel engines. The factory was established in 1899 during the period of constructio ...

and was also the first Chinese tram system that uses Ansaldo's

catenary In physics and geometry, a catenary ( , ) is the curve that an idealized hanging chain or wire rope, cable assumes under its own weight when supported only at its ends in a uniform gravitational field. The catenary curve has a U-like shape, ...

-free TramWave electrification system. If completed, it would have connected central Zhuhai to Zhuhai Railway Station and the

Gongbei Port of Entry The Gongbei Port () is an immigration and customs checkpoint located in Zhuhai in mainland China, on its border with Macau. It is operated by the Bureau of Exit and Entry Administration of the Ministry of Public Security, and the General Admin ...

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

. Service on the line has been suspended since January 22, 2021 due to low ridership and high operating costs. It is reported that the tram will be dismantled. On May 31, the tram committee voted 15 to 1 to demolish the tram line, due to low operational reliability, high operational cost, lack of services and low passenger levels. The TramWave technology was especially problematic and despite 11 different modifications to the power supply, it has remained problematic, with accidents related to the power supply system happening on average 0.13 times for every thousand kilometer travelled by all trams combined, and has risen higher every year, with a failure rate of 0.05 in 2017. The power supply was especially vulnerable to rainwater, causing short circuits and electricity leakage. Despite the demolition being listed as a priority for the city in 2021, the tram line still remained in place. Related infrastructure, such as the signals, ticket machines and platforms all remained in original condition, albeit some had rusted in the three years after service was suspended. When asked by

China Business Journal ''The China Business Journal'' (abbreviated as ''CBJ''; 中国经营报; 中國經營報), or ''China Business'', is a Beijing-based nationally distributed Chinese economic newspaper launched on January 5, 1985. The newspaper is supervised by th ...

about the plans for the line, the transport department of Zhuhai replied that the question was sensitive and had no comment. CRRC Dalian opposed the closure and had entered talks with the city on restarting the tram network. On May 7, 2024, the government officially announced the dismantling of tram Line 1 and the restoration of normal road paving. Demolition work began on May 10 and is expected to be completed within one month.

References

Transport in Zhuhai Rail transport in Guangdong Railway lines closed in 2021 {{Zhuhai-geo-stub