Is it a bus, is it a train, is it Nembo Kid? None of that, but all of these things except Nembo Kid. The world's first dual-mode vehicle (VDM), equally at home on road and rail, makes its public debut in Kaiyo, Tokushima Prefecture in Japan.
The two-mode vehicle resembles a minibus, and rides on conventional rubber tires when on the road. However, when it reaches a railway junction, special steel wheels come down from the belly of the car and onto the tracks, turning it into a mini train.
Roads? Where this vehicle goes there is no need for roads. Or rather, they're all fine.
The CEO of the railway company ASA Coast Railway, which operates dual-mode vehicles, said the vehicles could help small towns like Kaiyo with an aging and shrinking population, where local transportation companies struggle to make a profit.
“This dual-mode vehicle can transport people locally (like a bus) and at the same time transport them on the railway,” he explains Shigeki Miura, CEO of Kansai Bus. “We anticipate it will be a fantastic form of public transportation in rural areas with an older population.”
Dual mode, still a little way to go
The VDM will travel along part of the coast of Shikoku Island in southern Japan. It will connect several small cities offering passengers attractive seaside scenarios: a good omen also for those who wish to visit all areas of the country by train.
The dual-mode vehicle can carry up to 21 passengers and runs at a speed of 60 km / h (37 mph) on tracks and can reach speeds of around 100 km / h (62 mph) on public roads, Asa Coast said. Railway.
The only flaw (hopefully temporary): the small fleet of cute and cuddly dual-mode vehicles (complete with different colors) runs on diesel. A little more effort forelectric (or for thehydrogen?), Arigatogozaimasu.
