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Monday, June 24, 2013

DOST Automated Guideway Transit (AGT) Road Train


The Automated Guideway Transit is a sleek, 60-passenger, two-coach train that runs on a 465-meter elevated monorail inside the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman campus. It is a joint venture between UP and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). The electric train is emission-free and is expected to decongest traffic in urban centers, especially in Metro Manila. It rolls on two tracks -- like the Light Rail Transit (LRT) and Mass Rail Transit (MRT) trains -- but uses rubber wheels similar to those used by buses. DOST’s Metals Research and Development Center (MIRDC) constructed the prototype train’s main rolling stocks.

Miescor Builders built the elevated tracks while Fil-Asia Automotive built the coaches; both are Filipino companies. The UP National Center for Transportation Studies and the UP National Institute of Geological Sciences collaborated in testing the train and fine-tuning the speed, power, controls and stress systems. 

Results of the test runs, which are expected to be completed by June, “are positive,” said Science Secretary Mario G. Montejo. It paves the way to building the next prototype train, a “driverless,” 120-passenger train that will be tested next year on a 370-meter track along General Santos Avenue in Bicutan, Taguig City, he said. The next prototype is expected to improve the suspension system for better comfort and the elevated track guideway to further ensure safety.

Montejo said the local version is one-third less expensive than imported ones while the energy cost is comparable with the LRT and the MRT. All components of the train are locally available, he added. The slimmer track means less space will be required, making the train ideal to run in feeder roads that connect to major thoroughfares, inside central business districts or as a link between, say, Metro Manila and the international airport in Pampanga.

“We are doing the R&D (research and development) but it will be up to the private sector, transportation officials or local governments to deploy the technology,” Montejo said.

About P55 million was allocated for research and development of the Automated Guideway Transit from 2012 to mid-2013; another P8 million will fund an extension of the project until December, according to Engineer Jonathan Q. Puerto, MIRDC Deputy Executive Director. The third prototype will have a budget of P60 million for the first year. The elevated tracks will be finished by September this year and the bigger coaches will be delivered in December. Testing starts in 2014.

“Not only can the Automated Guideway Transit help ease traffic congestion in many urban areas. It will develop our version that costs less than buying a train from abroad,” Montejo said. “It will contribute to the development of Filipino capabilities in transportation technology.”

He nevertheless assured Aquino that his agency would expeditiously act on his concerns and that these would be addressed by the time the third prototype of the AGT will be available.

Source: http://www.malaya.com.ph (Apr. 16, 2013)

2 comments:

  1. What happen to the automated guided transit? This is now June of 2017. Is the DOST still working on it? Thank you

    ReplyDelete
  2. Any developments regarding this project? Production in the near future instead of importing coaches abroad?

    ReplyDelete