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Publication: Times of India Mumbai Date: 27/09/2005 Section: Times City Page Number: 6 Finally, Skybus ready for comeback By Ashley D'Mello\TNN Mumbai: Konkan Railway Corporation's Skybus Metro project, which came under a cloud after a crash on a trial track in Goa last September, is ready to stage a comeback. Sources said a panel has given the technology a clean chit, but has called for more work to make it commercially viable and safer. Bolstered by the findings, KRCL now plans to pitch for short-distance projects in Mumbai—for which the monorail is currently the favoured option in some circles—like the Santacruz to Sahar airport terminal. KRCL—with contracts worth Rs 400 crore and Rs 1,500 crore for transport projects in Pune and Hyderabad respectively— is also in the process of identifying partners in both cities under a Build-Operate-Transfer model. In Pune, Skybus is developing a 7.5-km route from the Pune railway station to Swargate and in Hyderabad, it is carving a 22-km route from Uppal to Maslipatnam. Skybus, which was expected to get a boost after KRCL conducted trials on a one-km track at Madgaon in Goa last year, was under scanner following the accident. KRCL officials said a high-level government committee, appointed to inquire into the accident and the Skybus technology last year, presented its report to the urban development ministry in New Delhi recently. KRCL managing director K K Gokhale said the technology was given a clearance but the committee felt further trials were needed to clear required safety norms and for commercially viability. "Our technology is sound. There are accidents even in Nasa. Does it mean that the whole project should be abandoned. The committee itself has said the technology should be nurtured,'' Gokhale said. KRCL officials said the inquiry committee had recommended that former chairman and MD of KRCL B Rajaram should be associated with the project as he was the main force behind the Skybus technology. Rajaram retired earlier this year and was not given an extension. Gokhale said: "The planners will have to take the Skybus into account on several of the Mumbai city routes. Some sections want to keep us out under the pretext of going in for proven technologies, but in the end they will also have to take us into account.'' "New technology needs time to overcome the glitches. When there are accidents in developed countries, they are seen as challenges. Railways across the world have accidents, does it mean that railway technology is defective?''asked KRCL officials incharge of the project. However, transport consultants argued that unlike foreign technologies which are under consideration, the Skybus is not a proven model. "The monorail, in comparison, has been used in Europe, Southeast Asia and Japan for over 25 years,'' said an MMRDA planner. Former KRCL chief Rajaram's re-entry could engineer a reversal of fortune as he has a successful track record in project implementation.
