China's independently-developed 35,000-ton heavy-haul train group completed the world's first automated platooning test for heavy-haul trains on Wednesday in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, a major coal production hub.
The test was carried out on the Baotou-Shenmu Railway, which connects Baotou City of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Shenmu City of northwest China's Shaanxi Province.
During the test, seven individual 5,000-ton heavy-haul freight trains formed a platoon by wireless signals rather than traditional mechanical hooks, which makes freight transportation safer, smoother and more flexible, and causes less wear on tracks and wheels.
The main control center coordinated and planned the routes for all trains in the group in real time, issuing commands for train formation and decoupling, while train dispatchers organized transport of shipments based on needs.
The method boosts coal transportation volume by more than 50 percent, helping increase power supply to more households and businesses. Moreover, it can help save a significant amount of resources and lower costs.
China tests automated platooning of 35,000-ton heavy-haul train group
As Portugal's presidential race enters a runoff, voters are voicing frustration over housing, wages, healthcare, and education.
On Sunday, Portugal launched the first major election of Europe's 2026 political calendar. Voters on the streets of Lisbon were focused more on day-to-day issues.
"The issue I carry the most when I'm casting the vote is about our housing prices, because we are having a major crisis. Even for young people, it's really hard to buy our first house. And even renting, the prices in Lisbon are collapsing, even outside, even the outskirts are collapsing. And about our healthcare national system, because it's also collapsing. It's a very complicated issue. And I'm a teacher and when I cast my vote, I need to think about my profession and my future colleagues as well," said Maria.
"I'm concerned about things such as education in Portugal, the healthcare in Portugal, the wages which are pretty low compared to other countries in Europe. Basically for me those are the key points - education, health and wages. And right now, also the cost of living in Portugal is pretty high," said Juan.
Portugal's presidential election will proceed to a second round, with Antonio Jose Seguro leading the first round with 30.69 percent of the votes, according to data released by the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Internal Administration.
Chega party leader Andre Ventura placed second with 26.97 percent of the vote, followed by Luis Marques Mendes of the center-right Social Democratic Party in third place, with 14.82 percent.
The move to a runoff marks the first time in 40 years that a Portuguese presidential election has required a runoff between the two leading candidates.
The runoff vote is scheduled for Feb. 8, with the winner to be determined by a simple majority.
Portuguese voters prioritize housing, wages, healthcare as presidential race heads to runoff
