Fairwood joins hands with UK's Ultra for urban mobility

Fairwood Group today said it has teamed up with Ultra PRT of the UK to provide next generation technology-enabled urban mobility systems in India.
After an exhaustive international technology search with a team of experts, Fairwood has decided to structure an association with Ultra of the UK, which implemented the world's first PRT (personal rapid transit) system at Heathrow airport in London, the company said.
"Fairwood has assessed over 80 Indian and foreign cities for suitability of the PRT system integration in identified root network and scale. This is estimated to create a business value potential of over USD 35 billion. The number of pods required will be over 50,000 for these networks," the company said in a statement.

PRT, also referred to as podcars, is a public transport mode featuring small automated vehicles operating on a network of specially-built guideways.
The company said the Ultra system at Heathrow has transported over 1.5 million passengers since inception.
Fairwood Group Vice-Chairman and MD Ranbir Saran Das said, "We will be happy to provide first mile last mile connectivity ... I would like to suggest that PRT is not in competition with the monorails, metros or BRTs."

He termed it as a game-changing technology and transport system - with significant potential to redefine mobility in India.
The company claimed that PRT will be a 'zero accident death' transport system.

The statement said the group is in discussion with large companies for partnership and in order to sustain the large magnitude of business, it is imperative that the PRT system be produced and serviced in India.