Hybrid Road Train to benefit Clark Freeport

• Source:http://www.sunstar.com.ph/pampanga/local-news/2016/01/21/hybrid-road-train-benefit-clark-freeport-452954
• Thursday, January 21, 2016

(CDC CommDep)

CLARK FREEPORT — The recently inaugurated Light Hybrid Electric Road Train (also called as LCRT) will become an alternate mass transportation system here due to the growing requirements of locators and investors for their employees inside this Freeport.

Clark Development Corporation (CDC) president Arthur P. Tugade said the light hybrid electric road train will not be the mass transport system that will replace the public utility vehicles in Clark ferrying mostly workers to various companies here.

The Filipino-made LCRT is a government project of the Metals Industry and Research Development Center under the Department of Science and Technology (MIRDC-DOST) which the CDC decided to test the roadworthiness of the project here and comply with the requirements of the growing number of workers from various industries in Clark.

The LCRT will also answer the growing numbers of night shift employees of various business process outsourcing firms to ferry workers to and fro of Clark as this will address the transportation efficiency here.

Tugade said the LCRT is still under trial and demonstration for the next two months to further avoid the recent incident where seven of the 208 battery cells of the road train short-circuited resulting to the smoking of one of the coaches.

Dr. Rio S. Pagtalunan, division chief of MIRDC-DOST said their road train staff is conducting a thorough inspection of all the lead acid batteries of the road train.

“We shall be replacing some damaged batteries and looking to the possibility of operating the LCRT before Wednesday next week, (January 27),” Pagtalunan said.

While the DOST is testing the efficiency the road, it will be free of charge from the commuting public for two months.

Pagtalunan who is also the project leader of the road train said that they are also investigating the incident and looking into two probable causes of failure.

“Our initial angle of investigation is that there is/are some ‘in-between’ battery connection cables (also called ‘battery jumper cables’) that got loose from their connection from the battery terminal due to vibration. This/these loose connection can cause sparks that may have started melting the jumper cable insulations that eventually caused the fire/smoke,” he said.

“As we gather more evidences, another theory came up -- that there are two or more batteries in one battery bank circuit that are defective, meaning those batteries cranked down even before reaching their ‘life’. These spent batteries will most likely become a load in the battery circuit and cannot withstand the high current passing through. The high current passing through the spent batteries could have caused increase in temperature that eventually lead to melting the battery parts/cover/jumper cables and caused fire/smoke,” Pagtalunan added.

Pagtalunan assured the state-run firm to provide updates on the complete result of the investigation being conducted by the MIRDC-DOST.