>From financialexpress.com Nation
Railways' dilemma: Is it a train..Is it a tram? PRESS TRUST OF INDIA Posted online: Tuesday, January 18, 2005 at 1531 hours IST MADGAON, GOA, JANUARY 18: 'Is it a bird...Is it a plane?'-this famous line from hollywood blockbuster 'Superman' just about sums up the Indian Railways' dilemma about the Skybus. The ministry is yet to decide on whether the revolutionary mass-transit system should be introduced in India under the Railway Act or the Trams Act and the resulting delay is giving Konkan Railway officials sleepless nights. "My biggest problem is that the railway ministry has not been able to decide whether the Skybus is a train or a bus. In fact, the Skybus is ready for commercial use but for policy constraints," B Rajaram, managing director of Konkan Railways told reporters in Goa at a media preview of the Skybus. The concept of an electric Skybus, in which the coaches are suspended from bogies traveling on elevated rail guides, is Rajaram's dream project and he even holds a patent for it in the US. He had first presented a paper on the project at the World Congress for Railway Research in 1989. But time is not on his side. Rajaram's immediate aim is to secure a safety certification for the Skybus before January 31, his last day of work before he officially retires. Safety concerns had already delayed the project by many months. During trial runs in September last year, an engineer riding the Skybus was killed and three others injured in a freak accident which was attributed to technical failure. The incident immediately raised apprehensions about passenger safety. "It was an unfortunate accident, but then, human beings learn from their mistakes. The way we have modified the Skybus, the original design factors are still satisfied and more safety features have been included. It's now 99 per cent complete and its safety has been proven," Rajaram said. "The commissioner for railway safety has inspected the Skybus and we are awaiting his report," he added. The two-coach Skybus is expected to pack in up to 300 passengers on a single trip, which during trials in Goa, traversed a distance of 1.6 km. Depending on the number of coaches, the Skybus has been designed to handle 18,000 to one lakh persons per hour. "We have completed trial runs at speeds of 70 km/hr and its great to get such results in the first prototype itself. With further fine-tuning, we will be able to reach 90 km/hr," Rajaram said. But others are not so optimistic about the Skybus being the best system for cities like Mumbai. "I am not sure about the Skybus being suitable as a suburban option. This technology is yet to prove itself. Its difficult to deal with such a large number of people. We'll look into anything which will benefit passengers but it ultimately boils down to implementation," said Arunendra Kumar, divisional railway manager, Mumbai central.
