Sky Bus gets railway minister's green flag

MADGAON: The much awaited Sky Bus project in Goa was cleared by the minister for railways Lalu Prasad Yadav. He gave it a green light after seeing a demonstration of its ‘anti-collision’ system at Madgaon in south Goa on Wednesday.

The Sky Bus, a Konkan Railway project, has captured the imagination of Goans ever since its trial run two years ago. “It is an interesting project and can be a good tourist attraction,” said the minister.

Patented by Konkan Railways, the Sky Bus technology has been developed by Mr Rajaram, the former managing director of Konkan Railways. Unlike traditional trains, the coaches of Sky Bus are suspended from elevated rails.

The automated system is bound to ease traffic congestion in major cities. Besides Indian cities like Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mumbai and Pune, international centres like Dubai, Singapore, Mecca and Medina have shown interest in this project.

It has received an additional Rs 25 crore this year for purchasing coaches and testing, said the Konkan Railway managing director KK Gokhale.

The Sky Bus project was shelved after a trial run in September ’04 ended with an accident killing one person. Mr Gokhale said an estimated Rs 50 crore per kilometre will be required to lay out the project. It is expected to generate returns of 10% and will be operational by the middle of next year.