MoU signed to study feasibility of Skybus

Konkan Railway Corporation Limited and Doxport and Consortium of Malaysia today signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to undertake techno-economic feasibility survey on a 20-km route between Mehdipatnam and Uppal in Hyderabad to execute the Skybus Metro Accentuated Rail Transport (Smart) system.

The study will be conducted by Konkan Railways with the funding from Doxport consortium, which was formed to promote Skybus technology that was developed by former managing director of Konkan Railways, B Rajaram, across the globe.

The Andhra Pradesh government gave permission to undertake feasibility study for Skybus technology-based mass rapid transport system on Mehdipatnam-Uppal route in March, 2005, without offering any firm commitment on adopting the system as it was yet to be tested.

"The Skybus technology is an alternative to all the existing metrorail mass rapid transit systems around the globe," Rajaram said in a press conference, adding that this indigenously developed technology outperforms all other systems on all important counts, including performance and cost. According to him, Skybus system can be implemented with half of the cost of an elevated metrorail system. Skybus system is expected to cost about Rs 55 crore per km.

T Shivalingam, managing director of Doxport Technologies Limited, said that their consortium was in talks with several governments across the globe to implement Skybus projects on build, own and transfer (BOT) basis.