The first Yutong railbus will operate in Cuba

Workers from the Transportation Company and the Basic Business Unit (BBU) of Railway Workshops in Camagüey will launch the first Yutong brand railbus to operate in Cuba.

The train-bus will have a capacity for 36 seated persons and 25 standing and will benefit 12 communities located between the municipalities of Santa Cruz del Sur and Vertientes, as detailed by the local newspaper Ahora.

The Yutong vehicle was taken from Havana to Camagüey for urban service, but as it lacked several components and - amid the serious transportation crisis that is affecting the entire country - they decided to transform it so that it can circulate on the railway lines.

The bus was equipped with a buffer, a sand container, railway wheels, and other accessories to travel on the railroad tracks; while the motor and transmission from the bus were mainly used.

These transformations have already been done in the past with Diana buses, but they had never been done with Yutong because they are more complex due to the dimensions of the vehicle, which is about 12 meters long, as detailed by the aforementioned source.

Carlos Sanz Guerra, a retired railway specialist for 13 years, explained that the conversion began in 2020, but had to be paused due to the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the lack of acetylene and various vehicle parts.

Currently, the work team, made up of mechanics, boilermakers, panel beaters, blacksmiths, and electricians, among other specialists, are finalizing the details in the electrical part so that the equipment can move in both directions, as well as other tests that will allow its premiere on June 28, in celebration of Transportation Workers' Day.

Carlos Sanz Guerra proposed naming the vehicle "El Mayor," a designation that will be given to the railbus in homage to Ignacio Agramonte Loynaz.

Although the technical transformation of the vehicle has been portrayed as a triumph, it is actually the dramatic consequence of a crisis that has left the bus fleet in the province of Agramonte inoperative.

Last year, the Provincial Transport Company of Camagüey revealed that the bus fleet was operating at 35% of its capacity due to the shortage of fuel and spare parts.