Published on Jun 05, 2023
The Sky Bus technology offered by Konkan Railway Corporation meets the above requirements, and re-defines the thinking and planning for urban transport being an Eco-friendly Mass urban transport system revolutionizing urban life. It is a patented technology developed for the new millennium and will cause a paradigm shift in urban transportation all over the world. Being an indigenous technology, it will place India on the forefront of the Rapid Transit Industry all over the world while providing the much needed alternative transportation solution, which is financially viable, environment friendly, synergizing well proven existing cutting edge technologies.
Sky Bus is based on the concept of Sky Wheels presented in 1989 at the World Congress for Railway Research by Mr. B Rajaram, Managing Director of KRCL at Bologna University , Italy . The sky bus uses pre - fabricated latest construction technologies, which save time and money resulting in easy execution of the project in busy urban areas without disturbing the existing traffic pattern. All these structural engineering methods are well - proven. They have IT tools for economical communication and control. The 3 phase asynchronous AC electrical motor used for the propulsion of sky buses is also well proven and widely used abroad as well as in India.
About the Technology
The fixed structure at 8 metres height above road level provides the support and guidance for powered bogies which can run at 100 kmph, with the coach shells suspended below, carry passengers in air conditioned comfort, can follow existing road routes, while existing traffic on roads continue. It is aesthetically pleasing and there is no concern of a claustrophobic feeling for road users .
Aesthetic, and eco-friendly, the Sky Bus is protected against derailment, toppling or collision - by design as well as by construction, hence is safer than the existing rail based system. At the cost of Rs. 50 Crore per km. in India , the system is noise - free and pollution - free with a capacity to transport 36000 passengers per hour (pph), scalable to 72,000 pph as required. With no signaling and having no points and crossings, it is a unique mass-transit system that can be put up within two years in any crowded & congested city. In addition to moving people, the Sky Bus system can carry standard 20 ft. containers, boosting its capacity utilization to double that of other existing systems.
Since it operates along existing roadways and within municipal limits, Sky Bus metro falls under tramway category, under Art 366(20) of the Constitution of India.
• i. The sky way consists of a concrete box structure 8.4 X 2.4 m. carried over a series of piers at a height of 9 - 10 m. above the existing road level.
• ii. In the middle of the roadway, pile foundations support 1 m. diameter columns approximately 8 m. high, and at a spacing of 15 m. all along the roadway.
