Your eyes are not deceiving you: The photo above is of a real train crossing through the middle of an apartment building. Like, on purpose.
If you're shaking your head and calling bull on this one, believe it. This is the Chongqing Rail Transit No. 2 line, a light railway train in China. It passes through the inside of a 19-story residential high-rise every single day, according to People's Daily.
This train is part of the transportation system in Chongqing, a 31,000-square-mile city in the southwest region of the country that has a population of about 49 million people. As you can imagine, that's a lot of people crammed inside a small urban space.
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So city planners had to come up with an efficient solution when a rubber tire light rail system was introduced, according to China’s Transportation Infrastructure Office. This type of train has "a small turning radius" and a "great climbing ability," which means it can maneuver through Chongqing’s smaller streets and heavily packed spots. The construction was meant to fuse the rail system with the surrounding environment. So during the planning process for the apartment complex, the developers coordinated with urban planners on a design that would allow for the train to pass right through the building.
According to People's Daily, they even built a railway station on the sixth through eighth floors of the complex. Residents can literally hop on the train directly from the Liziba station in their own apartment building.
And wait, there's more: If you think that hearing a train cross through your building sounds like a nightmare, you'll be glad to learn that Chongqing Rail Transit No. 2 line is famous for being one of the quietest rail lines. How quiet? About the same as a dishwasher.
Crazy world, right?
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