Sky bus plan mooted for Shimla

Some years from now, you could be sight-seeing in this popular resort town of Himachal Pradesh in a sleek high-tech sky bus if funds are raised.

Officials of the state government here say they have received a proposal from the Konkan railways for setting up of a two compartment sky bus circling Shimla's downtown and outskirts.

"The Konkan Railways have sent us the design of the proposed project 25 km long track project costing Rs 1,250 crore,"said the official not wishing to be named.

"Laying a similar track in the plains costs Rs 45 crore per kilometre in the plains it rises to Rs 50 crore per km in the hills," he said.

Engineers of the Konkan railways carried out a detailed study of hill station before preparing the project and found it feasible to carry out the project.

The 25-km railway track will be laid 9 metres above the road surface and two sky buses (or compartments) will be able to move together on the tracks with great speed.

There is also a possibility of connecting this sky bus to other nearby resort towns, the proposal says.

With a population of some 175,000, this resort town is a round the year destination for domestic and foreign torists, but traffic and parking space is a major constriant for holiday makers in the mountian terrain. The state government has also mooted a seperate Rs 300 crore plan whereby three tunnels will ease the heavy traffic in the hill station.

Less than two years ago Konkan railways reportedly expressed its desire to build similar sky buses in six metropolitan cities and eight other state capitals of the country. It isn't clear clear who will finance the Shimla sky-bus project so far.