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Bus or train? World's first 'dual-mode vehicle' to begin operating in Japan
Dec 25, 2021
The DMV looks like a minibus and runs on normal rubber tyres on the road.
It's a bus, it's a train, it's a DMV! The world's first dual-mode vehicle, equally at home on road and rail, is set to make its public debut on 25th December 2021 in the town of Kaiyo in Japan's Tokushima prefecture.
The DMV looks like a minibus and runs on normal rubber tires on the road. But when it arrives at an interchange, steel wheels descend from the vehicle's underbelly onto the rail track, effectively turning it into a train carriage.
The train wheels lift the front tires off the track while the rear wheels stay down to propel the DMV onto the railway.
The CEO of Asa Coast Railway company, which operates the DMVs, mentioned that the vehicles could help small towns like Kaiyo with an aging and shrinking population, where local transport companies struggle to make a profit.
"This (DMV) can reach the locals (as a bus), and carry them onto the railway as well," CEO Shigeki Miura informed Reuters. "Especially in rural areas with an aging population, we expect it to be a very good form of public transport."
The DMV can carry up to 21 passengers and runs at a speed of 60km/h (37 mph) on rail tracks and can go as fast as around 100km/h (62 mph) on public roads, Asa Coast Railway informed.
Powered by diesel fuel, the small fleet of vehicles, which come in different colors, will run along part of the coast of Shikoku island in southern Japan, connecting several small towns and offering passengers attractive seaside scenery.
According to Miura, the project would encourage railway fans from around Japan to visit.
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Source: https://edition.cnn.com/