UP Diliman-Automated Guideway Transit System -100% Filipino Built

Published on Dec 12, 2012

The University of the Philippines Diliman AGT System or the UP Diliman Monorail is an automated guide way transit (AGT) system currently under construction and development within the campus of the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City in the Philippines. It will serve as test track for the first mass transit system manufactured in the country by local engineers. The first phase of the project is funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in a joint project with the UP Administration. DOST provided funding and supervised the first phase as well as the design of the coaches and track to be used. If found feasible, the project would be expanded into a 6.9-kilometre (4.3 mi) intra-campus loop. Building the AGT is not viewed as a replacement for the jeepneys that currently ply the campus in a loop, but as a supplement.

Plans for the monorail system was revealed as early as December of 2010. The construction of the railway was began in June after the contract was awarded to construction and engineering firm Miescor Builders Inc. The groundbreaking ceremony was held on July 18, 2011 at the corner of Jacinto St. and Lakandula St. and is projected to be finished by 2016.

The train will have two passenger coaches with a seating capacity of 60 per coach. The two coaches arrived at the campus on November 25, 2012 with the initial test run scheduled in December 2012. The initial test track is 465-metre (1,526 ft) long with an elevation of 6.1-metre (20 ft), running between C.P. Garcia Avenue (near the building of the Commission on Higher Education) and Jacinto Street (along the College of Fine Arts). DOST previously created an earlier prototype, launched 4-5 months ago in Bicutan, Taguig City on a straight 150-metre (490 ft) track. The UPD campus is a chance to test the system on a curved and circular track.

The budget of the Department of Science and Technology for the elevated track and the AGT train was initially placed at PHP 16 million and PHP 4 million, respectively. The amount of the contract awarded to Miescor is PHP 22 million. The trains cost less as they are locally made using local materials, not imported.

The pilot monorail project will serve as a test case for future monorail projects, notably the planned Makati-Taguig-Pasay Monorail Alignment that should link up main transit systems in Metro Manila; the Philippine National Railways (PNR), the Manila Light Rail Transit System (LRT), and the Manila Metro Rail Transit System (MRT-3). The speed of the train in the campus is planned at 50 to 60 kilometers per hour (31 to 37 mph), but an upgrade to 120 kilometers per hour (75 mph) is under study.