Electric train slated for test run in General Santos

MANILA, Philippines - The Electric Road Train (ERT) developed by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is now getting its commercial test run in General Santos City, instead of Cebu City where narrow street corners and uncooperative motorists proved to be roadblocks for the mass transport innovation.

Engineer Robert Dizon, executive director of the DOST Metals Industry Research and Development Center (MIRDC), said that the General Santos City local government unit (LGU) has been willing to accommodate the ERT to serve as mass transport for residents.

“GenSan is very interested. In fact, they already have a (city council) resolution for the ERT route there,” Dizon told The STAR in a phone interview.

“They have identified a route where the road train will have its regular runs,” he added.

He said that the route was meant to provide mass transport for people in the city’s downtown area, mostly workers or businesspeople going to the city’s tuna factory district at the fish port.

“Right now, they don’t have a good mass transport system servicing that area,” Dizon said.

He said they were delighted with the route given by the GenSan LGU since it was a wide highway going in a generally straight direction 14 kilometers long, allowing the ERT to be run at a speed of 60 kilometers per hour. This, he said, will allow it to complete the required thousands of kilometers of safety tests for international certification.

Dizon said the DOST was now holding a tender for transport services of a shipping contractor to ferry the ERT prototype from Cebu City to General Santos.

He said that the test run in General Santos will be subjected by the MIRDC engineers and researchers to identify any modifications necessary to improve its performance.