It was learned from the West Coast Construction Branch of Qingdao Metro Group that the first autonomous passenger train “Blue Dolphin” that arrived at the car depot at the end of March has successfully passed the hot-running test. Now it is speeding on the testing line of the Zhuamashan Car Base, which symbolizes that the TACS (Train Autonomous Control System) has formally entered into the train dynamic commissioning stage and taken a solid step toward the target of realizing the no-load trial running at the end of this year.

The hot-running test is the foundation for verifying the train and the comprehensive functions of systems and the “pass” for the train to begin the online dynamic commissioning. The testing line of Zhuamashan Car Base is 833.8m long with the whole set of equipment such as the power supply system and the TACS and is able to simulate the operation status of the train on the main track. To ensure the realization of the hot-running test on the testing line as scheduled, the West Coast Construction Branch of Qingdao Metro Group carefully organized and coordinated the test by forming a pilot team to follow up the situation and overcome difficulties on site 24h/24h and establishing an efficient coordinating and dispatching mechanism. Thanks to the unremitting efforts of all concerned parties, the track laying, the power supply and the enclosure of the testing line have been finished within a month.

29 trains with the max. speed of 100km/h are allocated to Metro Line 6. Every train is composed of 6 cars and able to carry nearly 2,000 passengers at most. The appearance of the train is mainly painted in ocean blue to manifest the marine feature of Qingdao, so the train is named “Blue Dolphin”. The traditional separate driver’s cab in the train is replaced by a driving room connected with the passenger room. All the trains on this line are equipped with intelligent systems for operation and maintenance and passenger room management. The interior noise reduction is optimized to improve the riding comfort of passengers; the high standard of fire protection is adopted to ensure the safety; the energy saving devices such as the electric braking to zero and the overvoltage absorbing resistor are used to make the train intelligent, comfort, safe and energy-efficient.

Line 6 (Phase I) is a 30.8 km line from Xintunlu Station in the west to Ecology Park Station in the North, it is a backbone route running through the central area of Qingdao West Coast New Area and it plans to start operation in 2024. After completion, it will become an important part of the Jiaozhou Bay loop network of the city's rail transit, connecting the West Coast Traffic Business District, Ocean High-tech Zone, Lingshan Bay Film and Television Culture Industry Zone, Qingdao Economic and Technological Development Zone and International Economic Cooperation Zone, the line will connect the main functional groups of Qingdao West Coast New Area and become a rapid corridor connecting the urban area in Qingdao West Coast New Area, the downtown area of Qingdao in the east bank, and the North Bank urban area through one transfer.