China’s incredible train line that literally goes through the middle of a block of flats | World | News

Urban architects in Chongqing, a sprawling city in southwest China, have ingeniously integrated a monorail station into a residential high-rise building. The Liziba station, part of the Chongqing Rail Transit 2, is nestled between the sixth and eighth floors of a 19-storey building, which also houses several apartments.

Launched in 2005, this unique station, complete with toilets and vending machines, was not an afterthought but was planned and built concurrently with the apartment block. The building is divided into two sections: the lower seven storeys house the station, while the remaining 11 are residential. The ground floor is home to the Chongqing Rail Tourist Service Centre and Liziba Cultural and Creative Theme Museum, offering an insight into the development of Chongqing rail transit.

To ensure the presence of the station doesn’t disrupt the lives of residents in the building, noise reduction systems have been installed to dampen the sound of trains passing through.

While the station was never meant to be a tourist attraction, its innovative design has attracted visitors and earned rave reviews over the years.

A Tripadvisor read: “This is not a tourist attraction but its uniqueness is due to the fact that this subway station is located in the middle of a building. Best way to catch this unique sight is to take train #2 to this station and then get down to ground level (eight floors down). Get across the street and you will see many others looking upwards to the train station.”

In response to the growing interest generated by the station, the city unveiled a viewing platform in August 2018, complete with a designated area for tourist buses, allowing visitors to marvel at the trains entering and exiting the skyscraper.

Chongqing, often referred to as the Mountain City because of its steep terrain, ranks among China’s most populous urban centres.

As of 2022, the city boasted an urban population of 22.80 million, which swelled to 30 million when including the rural areas around Chongqing’s core.

Not only is Chongqing a bustling metropolis, but it also holds a significant place in Chinese history, having been the national capital from 1937 to 1945 during the tumultuous times of the Sino-Japanese War and World War II.