Japanese train company to debut dual-use bus and rail vehicle

JR Hokkaido, a Japanese rail firm, is poised to fully launch its dual-mode bus and rail vehicle. The bus-train has both rubber and steel tires, allowing it to switch between regular roads and railroad tracks with ease. The company debuted a test model nearly three years ago, and a set up a test line in the Shizuoka Prefecture city of Fuji late last month -- but JR Hokkaido will be conducting commercial tests on the Semmo Line near Shiretoko in April 2007. This crazy dual-use machine is meant to be a way to replace train cars that run on local lines where ridership is down to under 500 people per day (that's 30 percent of JR's lines). While you probably won't be able to get your hands on one unless you're a running a Japanese rail company, these new hybrids will cost ¥20 million ($170,735) apiece, which apparently is about one-seventh the cost of a traditional diesel-powered train car. At such bargain basement prices, Japanese rail riders might be seeing these pretty soon -- that is, unless the hovercraft-train-bus triple-threat comes to market first.

[Via Engadget Chinese]

[Christian @ Dec 17th 2006 4:06PM]

So who's riding the yellow bus?

[nothing now @ Dec 17th 2006 4:22PM]

seamless mass transit we need this in florida! how come this stuff never makes it over? 2 hours to cross 3 miles of causeway and bridge. boom states are hell.

[AG @ Dec 17th 2006 4:43PM]

Nothing new there.

Do a search for 'railbus'

Its a GM-made bus that is designed to run on rails

Its been done before some of us were even born

[alloneword @ Dec 17th 2006 5:18PM]

In Adelaide (Australia) they have some rail buses. They don't run on traditional rails, but they have guide wheels that stick out parallel to the ground and slot into a track. The driver doesn't steer when the (otherwise standard) buses locks into the tracks on special roads.

[Taylor @ Dec 18th 2006 12:18AM]

Yeah, in Adelaide we have these "guided busways" designed to be run by special German buses called O-Bahns. They're the fastest guided buses in the world. They don't run on regular train tracks, but they're still a lot speedier than taking a regular bus into the city.

Wikipedia! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adelaide_O-Bahn

[Crazylink @ Dec 17th 2006 5:30PM]

Reminds me a truck from an episode of Lupin the Thrid.

[Danny @ Dec 17th 2006 5:56PM]

Montreal Subway actually is using both, wheel and rail(emergency) if the train have a problem of wheel. Watch the animated picture. This is what montreal use. http://emdx.org/rail/metro/principe.php

[don @ Dec 17th 2006 8:40PM]

Actually, this is reasonably new. The term 'railbus' does usually not refer to a dual-mode vehicle but merely refers to a self-propelled traincar that is built using many bus components (or built using the design philosophy that is more automotively focused that the traditional train design philosophy) and designed to serve the usage levels that are more typical for buses. Granted there have been some dual-mode railbus conversions of standard buses but these were quite basic and akin to the truck conversions that are used by rail service crews --- certainly not something that you could built a mass transit infrastructure on.

[Dan @ Dec 17th 2006 11:22PM]

As mentioned earlier, Adelaide in South Australia has had a rail bus system running for over 20 years now!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O-Bahn_Busway

[wookie @ Dec 17th 2006 11:41PM]

nothings cooler than the shinkansen!!

[Semibaka @ Dec 26th 2006 7:21AM]

yey i remember the obahn from when i lived in Adelaide... awesomeness!