The first Yutong brand rail bus that will operate in Cuba will begin its tests in the coming days, according to a report by Cuban Television, which also described how the adapted means of transportation will be.
The logistics subdirector of the Camagüey Provincial Transport Company, Luis Beltrán Pérez, said they had to negotiate with a group of insurers to "search for important parts that we did not have, and that are not entering the country."
Among the elements that were incorporated into the railbus are the cowcatcher, the sanding system, and the railway wheels, which will allow it to travel on railroad tracks.
"The most complex tasks carried out during the manufacturing of this equipment was the adaptation of tires for railway wheels," said Felix Caballero Velazco, a railway equipment mechanic.
The railbus, which will travel through 12 communities in the municipalities of Santa Cruz del Sur and Vertientes, has a capacity for 36 seated passengers and 25 standing.
A report from the local newspaper Adelante detailed that the Yutong vehicle was transferred from Havana to Camagüey for urban service, but as it lacked several components and - amidst the serious transportation crisis affecting the entire country - they decided to modify it so that it could travel on the railway lines.
These transformations had 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, about 12 meters in length, as detailed by the source mentioned.
Last year, the Provincial Transport Company of Camagüey revealed that the bus fleet was operating at 35% capacity due to a shortage of fuel and spare parts.
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