A modern Hybrid Electric Road Train will be soon rolling out in the city of Metro Manila. A transport vehicle that will minimize traffic and help transporting public travel conveniently to their respective destinations. A Department of Science and Technology (DOST) priority project dedicated to the commuting public.
This Hybrid Electric Road Train is at the Clark Free-port Parade Ground in Pampanga on June 25, 2015 for its first public display and dry run testing.
Designed and fabricated by Filipino engineers from the DOST’s Metals Industry Research and Development Center under its Makibayan or Makina at Teknolohiya Para sa Bayan Program, the 40-meter-long road transport is developed to help address the worsening mass transportation problem in Metro Manila and in other urban areas throughout the Philippines.
The road train is a series of five air-conditioned interlinked coaches, four of which can accommodate a total of 60 passengers each, for a maximum of 240 passengers per trip.
DOST Secretary Mario G. Montejo hopes that with the larger passenger capacity of the hybrid road train, it will be able to absorb more commuters especially at rush time. “We hope to see them in our streets the moment they are fully commercialized,” he added.
It has a maximum speed of 50kph and is powered by a hybrid engine that runs on either diesel fuel or electric batteries. The rear coach generates the power for the entire transport.
This vehicle is among those picked by experts to be at the forefront of mass transport in the coming years. Unlike conventional railway systems, the hybrid road train is more energy efficient since there is no need for alternating current running through suspended cables.
This road transport also produces less smoke emissions compared with cars, trucks, or buses, thus creating a smaller carbon footprint and contributing to a cleaner environment
The Hybrid Electric Road Train is launched as part of the preparations for DOST’s upcoming 2015 National Science and Technology Week which will run from July 24-28, 2015 at the SMX Convention Center, MOA Complex, Pasay City. Admission is free. (S&T Media Service, DOST-STII)
First it is too long to navigate through the roads in Manila, mind you driving this bus with other cars you need extra camera to see your rear side because that mirror ain’t do anything unless the operator has zooming vision. I’m gonna be a critic on this ingenuity but proud for a mass rapid transport and to cut down the rate of pollution. Using Electric propulsion why cannot use a li-ion batteries rather the lead acid? Not a low floor? I’m not an expert on physics but the ratio of weight and fuel efficiency then battery(electric) powered I say this project might fail but then again through the streets of Manila with a turtle speed of 30km/hr well maybe it will surpass my expectations. How would it turn or bend? This bus is more than 131 feet long, most articulated buses in the western world are 60foot long, ATG articulated joints, 10 tires. etc. Wish them well and it’s great for the environment…. Good luck… Need a road for this bus like the BRT in Columbia, Brazil and Ottawa’s Transitway.