A train with an identity crisis

HOW fast do they want the new hybrid electric trains to run? I'm asking the question because lawmakers were skeptical over the capability of the new “trains” during the hearing conducted by the House committee on transportation chaired by Rep. Cesar Sarmiento (Catanduanes) earlier in the week.

Rep. Bayani Fernando of Marikina scoffed at the mass transport conveyor, which is a project of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), because it can only run 80 kilometers per hour (kph).

“So it's another choochoo train. Anong klaseng train yan (What kind of a train is that), 80 kilometers per hour? Ang mga trains ngayon sa mundo (Trains around the world run) 200 kilometers per hour,” the former Metro Manila Development Authority chairman said.

Let me see… maybe Fernando was thinking of the more conventional trains. You know, the ones that actually run on tracks. Now those are fast.

But the new hybrid electric “train” is basically an elongated bus. I mean, that's what it looks like on the photo that came out on page 1 of Sun.Star Cebu last Dec. 16.

I for one don't know why the DOST decided to call it a “train.” Unless it was an oversight on the part of the department's engineers. That, or they had too much to drink the night before and were too befuddled to make a distinction between a bus on steroids and a locomotive.

But I understand Fernando's con- fusion, although all he had to do was look at the photo and he probably would have sung a different tune.

Anyway, I'm more bothered that he would advise resource persons from the transport sector to look at the use of the railway system in Tokyo, Japan, which is backed by highcapacity trains.

And then what? Adopt and implement it. With what money?

Japan is a First World, highlyindustrialized country with the third largest economy in the globe. In short, it's rich. Very, very rich.

Maybe Fernando identifies with Japan because he, too, leads a First World lifestyle. Or he's a frequent visitor to that country and is more familiar with how things work there instead of what's it's like in a Third World setting.

Why couldn't he have just asked them to look at the railway system in Indonesia or Malaysia? Now, that'd be more doable and more practical. (Then again, maybe Indonesia is not such a good example, considering traffic in its capital Jakarta is reportedly comparable to that of Metro Manila or even worse.)

My point is, if we look to the First World to solve our Third World woes, then we're in for a major disappointment.

With that said, allow me to get down off my high horse. After all, I do agree with Fernando, vice chairman of the committee on transport, that the total train system should be reviewed to ensure commuters are served.

In Cebu City, Mayor Tomas Osmeña already asked the Cebu City Transportation Office to submit proposed routes for the hybrid “trains” after one arrived last Wednesday. The City is helping DOST field-test the hybrid five-coach bus—Can I call it that? “Bus,” I mean. Because, for all intents and purposes, that's what it is—and market it to possible local manufacturers and suppliers.

The prototype will most likely be deployed in the route leading to the IT Park where many of the city's call center agents work.

Eventually, City Hall will deploy the buses in four loops.

Now, if Fernando has set foot on Cebu recently, then he'd understand why his statement about the “trains” moving too slow made him look stupid. (Okay, “stupid” is too strong a word. How's “ignorant?” No? How about “delusional?”)

Traveling at 200 kph… ha! He's lucky if the buses here can move 10 kph. Or move. At all.