The Sky Bus metro, an innovative, eco-friendly mass rapid transport system designed by Konkan Railway, is set for a test trial by the first week of August.
Konkan Railway will try out the Sky Bus metro over a 1.6 km running test track at Madgaon, Goa, to prove the technical feasibility of the project. The coaches will be placed on the test track by the end of July. The coaches have been made by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) according to international standards. As many as 600-700 engineers and workers are working day and night to see the dream turn into reality.
Though the monsoons have affected the pace of work, Konkan Railway is all set to demonstrate the viability of this innovate transport system. Engineers from an Austrian company have been helping complete mounting motor on the coaches.
The sky bus consists of a sky way, coaches and stations with a concrete box structure carried over a series of piers at a height of eight metres above existing road level. Two rails fixed to the concrete box support and guide the sky bus. No crossings are involved in the new transport system.
In this new technology of 'Sky Wheels' almost no land acquisition will be required, except for providing for right of way on existing roadways. Only at terminal points, minimum amount of land 2,000 to 4,000 sqm in area will be required and that too at places away from the urban centres. Its other advantages are that even if it derails, the Sky Bus cannot fall down since the coaches will keep hanging from the concrete box structure. Hence, there is no risk of coaches overturning as compared to railways and underground metros. Its capital cost is only half that of elevated systems and 25 per cent of the underground metro. In crowded cities, the Sky Bus metro will not interfere with normal traffic.
The Sky Bus is said to be an eco-friendly solution that can solve transportation problems of cities like Mumbai and Delhi without taking any urban space.
Konkan Railway has submitted Sky Bus proposal for various cities as the new millennium technology of our country. Though Mumbai has not taken up the Sky Bus project, the test track in Madgaon is expected to demonstrate the efficacy of this innovative transport system.
DREAM PROJECT
Rapid transport
Length: 1.6kmHigh-speed curve: 875 m radiusLow-speed curve: 100 m radiusLuxury: Fully air-conditionedSafety: Auto surveillance by web cams; anti-collision devices on each coach; auto-driving system.Cost of the test track: Rs500 million
Gulf News
