DOST develops monorail system for UP Diliman

MANILA, Philippines - The first prototype for a locally developed monorail will go around the University of the Philippines in Diliman starting June next year, Science Secretary Mario Montejo said yesterday.

Montejo said the local Automated Guideway Transit (AGT) is a rail-based mass transit very similar to the Metro Rail Transit and Light Rail Transit but its cost is only 20 percent of the price of the imported ones.

He said the new mode of transportation would traverse a two-kilometer test track in the campus.

The monorail, to be developed by the DOST’s Metals Industry Research and Development Center, consists of two 60-passenger coaches and runs on a single rail. Montejo said the AGT is environment-friendly as it does not emit any smoke because it is run on electricity.

Montejo said a monorail would also be established in the DOST office in Bicutan, Taguig.

The DOST would design the detailed engineering plan and UP would provide technical assistance and implement community relations activities, he said.