Experimental elevated bus tracks removed in Qinhuangdao

After a year's trial, workers have started ripping up sections of the track laid down to demonstrate the experimental TEB-1, Transit Elevated Bus in in the coastal city of Qinhuangdao, according to Chinanews.

The domestically produced TEB-1 Transit Elevated Bus in an experimental station in Qinhuangdao of Hebei Province. [Photo: Chinanews.com]

Local officials say the test tracks will be completely removed by June, to restore normal traffic conditions on the roads. The TEB is expected to be removed to a parking-lot nearby pending a decision on its future.

22-meters in length and 8-meters wide, the elevated bus was designed to allow traffic to pass underneath, while running on tracks on either side of the road. The vehicle was designed to carry up to 300 passengers at a time.

The tracks of the homegrown transit elevated bus are being dismantled in Qinhuangdao in Hebei Province on June 21, 2016. [Photo: Chinanews.com]

The designers believed it had the potential to cut traffic congestion by as much as 35-percent in certain areas of a city.

But according to local residents, no further test runs of the bus have been conducted since October.

The tracks of the homegrown transit elevated bus are being dismantled in Qinhuangdao in Hebei Province on June 21, 2016. [Photo: Chinanews.com]

"We've repeatedly invited the manufactures to discuss the future of the transit elevated bus, but they kept refusing to do so," said an official with the Qinhuangdao district.

The TEB-1 first started road tests on August 2, 2016.