KRCL to re-sell Sky bus technology

The Konkan Railway Corporation (KRCL) has launched a new attempt to re-sell its sky bus technology, an indigenous railway project which met ill-fate in 2004.

"The corporation will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Research Design and Standard Organisation (RDSO) next month which will facilitate the certification of the project," KRCLs public relation manager Baban Ghatge told PTI this morning.

The RSDO is the sole research and development organisation of Indian Railway and functions as a technical advisory body to railway board, zonal railways and production units.

Ghatge said that the certification is required to sell the project commercially.

The ambitious Rs 50-crore sky bus technology underwent test runs till September 2004 on a specially built 1.6 km-long self stabilising track at Madgao junction before it met with an accident killing an engineer.

A bogie, travelling at a speed of 80 kilometres per hour, rammed against a pillar throwing out two engineers, one of whom died in the hospital.

The project was a brainchild of then KRCL Managing Director B Rajaram who had even invited bids from various cities to implement this project in their areas to "decongest" the traffic.

Ghatge said that current Managing Director Anurag Mishra during his ongoing Goa visit has revealed the corporation's plans to get the sky bus project back on tracks.

The project envisaging the railway boogies mounted on the track set on the eight metres high pillars was funded through a consortium of 34 Indian companies who had invested in it.

The new concept in indigenous technology is also facing a hurdle as it is to be decided whether it falls in ambit of Union surface transport ministry or railway ministry.