Skybus project faces delay over safety certification issue

One of the country's most eagerly awaited transportation models - the Skybus Project - faces delay with uncertainty over who will give its safety certification.

The Skybus is cited by the Konkan Railways Corporation Ltd (KRCL) to be one of the cheapest and fastest forms of urban transportation, four times cheaper than underground metro but its unique design has put officials in a quandry over whether Skybus can be included under the Railways Act.

"We feel that skybus can be included under the Railways Act and can be certified by the railways itself but the matter has now been referred to the urban development ministry, which in turn has set up Indreshan Commitee to look into the matter," KRCL managing director K K Gokhale said.

He also added that Indreshan Committee's sanction expired last month and it has asked the prime minister's office to give it an extension.

"When we will get our safety certification is any one's guess. Many cities, especially Pune, Jaipur and Chandigarh have expressed keen interest in setting up the Skybus system," gokhale said.

KRCL had conducted a test trial of Skybus last September but a freak accident a month after, which killed one engineer and injured three, led to a delay in the safety certification.

Then KRCL managing director B Rajaram had said that the Skybus system was similar to railways and hence should be awarded certification by the railways itself.

"If the skybus project gets going, then we can break even in terms of revenue within the next five years. In fact, we have even had offers from foreign companies stating that they were ready to finance the project once the certification comes through," Gokhale added.

KRCL, which has spent Rs 50 crore developing a prototype of Skybus, is not the only interested party in moving the project quickly - 34 private firms, including Larsen & Toubro and Bajaj Electrical, which have a financial stake in the project, are also being made to wait.

"Our private partners are patient people. They are aware that once the Skybus project takes off it is going to be a popular form of transportation and they will get their dues. They are willing to wait it out," Gokhale said.

The Skybus needs no land space as it runs on rails built below a brigde or a flyover. The bogey is suspended from the rails at a minimum height of five feet from ground level.