City Hall maps out hybrid train route

The hybrid train parked at an impounding site near the North Reclamation Area now has a proposed route for its commuters. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)

Cebu City Hall came out with a proposed route for the 40-meter hybrid electric road train donated by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

Ma. Theresa Sederiosa, Cebu City’s investment promotions officer, said the route will start at the impounding facility of the Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO) in the North Reclamation Area (NRA) where the vehicle is currently being kept.

From there, it will traverse S. Osmeña Road and turn right at the corner near Robinsons Galleria Cebu and then turn left again to the New Imus Road.

The road train will go straight to N. Bacalso Ave. and all the way until it reaches corner V. Rama Ave. where it will make a right turn.

It will then pass through B. Rodriguez St. and turn right to Osmeña Blvd. and turn left to P. Del Rosario St., going to Imus Road and all the way back to NRA.

“This was what was presented to us as the most probable route. This is the most feasible, but that can still change,” she told Cebu Daily News.

The road train arrived in Cebu last Wednesday morning, but it will take up to four weeks to be assembled by technicians from the DOST who will have to come back by January because of the holidays.

This is why the city targets to have the road train running already by mid-February.

The lack of a route with roads wide enough to accommodate the road train, the first of its kind for Cebu, is also a problem.

The road train is 2.5 meters wide and would basically occupy one whole lane of the road. It is composed of five coaches, which makes it 40 meters long in all.

The first coach carries the driver and the engine and can accommodate 30 passengers.

The second, third and fourth coaches can accommodate 40 to 50 passengers each.

The last coach carries only the batteries for the road train.

“It will not run for 24 hours, maybe at most nine to 10 hours a day. We are still coordinating with Citom (CCTO) for the final route. We are looking for one with less turns and less disruptions to existing traffic,” Sederiosa said.

She said riding the road train will be free of charge to the public.

Sederiosa said though that designated stops will have to be established along the route.

In a report they earlier sent to the DOST, CCTO Executive Director Rafael Yap said this route is the most favorable.

Based on the report, the CCTO said there are no passenger jeepneys picking up and dropping off passengers from the NRA and passing along the New Imus Road going to P. Del Rosario St. and V. Rama Ave.

The CCTO suggested three other routes but ruled them all as unfavorable for the road train.

The first suggestion will have the road train pass through Osmeña Blvd. from the Fuente Circle, turn left to P. Del Rosario St. to the New Imus Road, and turn left to Gen. Maxilom Ave. and back to Fuente Circle.

But the CCTO said there are already many passenger jeepneys passing through this route and the volume of vehicular traffic along Gen. Maxilom Ave. is already heavy.

The second proposed route starts from the Fuente Circle going to Gen. Maxilom Ave., to New Imus Road then to P. Del Rosario St. going all the way to N. Bacalso Ave. then turn right to V. Rama Ave. and turn right to B. Rodriguez St. back to Fuente Circle.

But since this route still passes through the heavily congested Gen. Maxilom Ave., CCTO said it’s not feasible.

The last proposal starts from JY Square in Barangay Lahug, going to Salinas Drive to Pope John Paul II Ave., then turn right to S. Osmeña Road then turn right to Gen. Maxilom Ave. then turn right to Gorordo Ave. back to JY Square.

But the CCTO said the roads in Salinas Drive and Pope John Paul II Ave. are too narrow and a portion of Gorordo Avenue experiences high traffic volume during peak hours.