Science and Technology Secretary Mario G. Montejo expressed hopes the Hybrid Electric Road Train can help declog roads and address the worsening traffic situation in the National Capital Region.
Montejo said that HERT is a “very practical mass transport solution” that can augment existing systems since it can move a big number of passengers at any given time just like the LRT and MRT.
He also said this is also intended to make the cityscape greener, more livable and conducive to healthy living.
“The Hybrid Electric Road Train is environment- friendly because it can run on electric power batteries instead of solely diesel fuel, therefore creating lesser carbon emission compared with vehicles that run purely on gasoline,” said Montejo.
Moreover, Montejo stressed this innovation will provide private investors an opportunity to engage in a more efficient and viable enterprise because it is cost-effective.
He said most of its parts are locally sourced, particularly the coaches which are fabricated here in the Philippines.
The hybrid road train, developed by Filipino engineers from DoST-Metals Industry Research and Development Center, is a 40-meter long system of five interlinked and air conditioned coaches.
The front coach contains the pilot chamber while last coach holds the fuel and power generation system composed of 260 ordinary motor vehicle batteries.
The three remaining coaches can accommodate as much as 60 passengers each for a total of 240 per trip or an estimate of 650,000 passengers in a day.
The train can run at a top speed of 50 kph on a dedicated lane in the existing major thoroughfare in Metro Manila.
The road train is part of the three-component project of DoST’s Advanced Transport Program under the Makina at Teknolohiya Para Sa Bayan Program or MakiBayan.
The road train is an ideal mode of transport for the Bayanihan sa Daan’s advocacy for a more efficient and environment-friendly mass transport system in big cities across the country. Bayanihan sa Daan pushes for equal sharing of the road to non-motorized means of transportation like bicycles and those who simply chose to walk.
The road train has already been adopted by the Clark Development Corp., with some modifications, to serve the employees of its 1,000 business locators covering 4,400 hectares of industrial land.
Showcasing the road train in Clark enabled DoST to validate the innovations it introduced to make the technology more responsive to the needs of the transport sector, Montejo said.
The innovations depend on the characteristics of each location like that of Clark and other cities like Cebu or Davao, he added.
Dr. Rio S. Pagtalunan, chief of the analysis and testing division of DoST-MIRDC, said that the DoST developed the road train because the train is still the most efficient public mass transportation system in the world.
He further assured the public that DoST is conducting regular tests and performing trial runs to ensure that the road train’s roadworthiness meets standards prior to its complete rollout.
The road train made history as it completed three demo trips from SM Mall of Asia grounds to Luneta and back and ferried commuters with simulated stops in front of the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the Rizal Park, two historical landmarks in the country.