RailEnquiry

MARGAO: Konkan Railway Corporation may have decided to do away with the sky bus infrastructure constructed at Margao, but affirms that it has not abandoned the technology and is still on the lookout for interested parties for further development of the innovative technology and its commercial deployment.

"It's not that we have abandoned the technology. KRC has only decided to dismantle the structure set up in Goa for the trial run of the sky bus as it involved huge expenditure on its maintenance," KRC chief PRO at Mumbai Vaishali Patange told TOI.

Besides the structure, two air-conditioned coaches, part of the sky bus service, will also be sold off following KRC's decision to scrap the project. What apparently prompted KRC to demolish the 1.6 km test track structure was the poor response to the global expression of interest invited by it on two occasions.

Stating that "feasibility of (sky bus) technology has been demonstrated by conducting real life trials up to speed of 70kmph on test track at Goa (India)," KRC, in its notice inviting GEoI issued in 2010, had asked interested parties to submit their request for qualifications (RFQ) for "further development of technology and its commercial deployment on revenue sharing or similar model".