DMV, Bus-Railway, Japan's Answer To An Aging City

The DMV looks like a minibus and runs on regular rubber tires on the road. (photo credit: japanstation.com)

JAKARTA - A vehicle that looks like a bus and a train, or called a DMV (dual-mode vehicle) has appeared in Japan! The world's first dual-mode vehicle, both on highways and on railroads, will make its public debut on Saturday, December 25, in Kaiyo city in Tokushima prefecture, Japan.

The DMV looks like a minibus and runs on regular rubber tires on the road. But when it arrived at the intersection, the steel wheels descended from the underbelly of the vehicle onto the rails, effectively turning it into a train carriage.

The train wheels lift the front tires off the track temporarily and the rear wheels stay down to push the DMV onto the railroad track.

The CEO of the Asa Coast Railroad company, which operates the DMV, said the vehicle could help small towns like Kaiyo with an aging and shrinking population, where local transport companies are struggling to make a profit.

"It (DMV) can reach the locals (as a bus), and get them on the rails as well," CEO Shigeki Miura told Reuters on Friday, December 24. "Especially in rural areas with aging populations, we expect this to be an excellent form of public transport."

The DMV can carry up to 21 passengers and travels at 60 km/h (37 mph) on railroads and can travel as fast as about 100 km/h (62 mph) on public roads, the Asa Coast Railway said.

Powered by diesel fuel, a small fleet of vehicles, which come in a variety of colors, will run along the coastal part of the southern Japanese island of Shikoku, connecting several small towns and offering passengers attractive seaside views.

Miura said he hoped the project would encourage train enthusiasts from all over Japan to visit the site.