The Skybus Metro was a prototype suspended railway system by

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n technologist B. Rajaram with the

BEML BEML Limited, formerly Bharat Earth Movers Limited, is an Indian public sector undertaking which manufactures a variety of heavy equipment, such as that used for earth moving, railways, transport and mining. It is headquartered in Bangalore. BEM ...

and

Konkan Railway The Konkan Railway (abbreviated KR) is one of the 19 railway zones in India with its headquarters at CBD Belapur in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The Konkan Railway line from Roha to Thokur is operated and maintained by Konkan Railway co ...

which is patented by the

Indian Railways Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...

. The system consisted of an elevated track with the cars suspended below, similar to the

Wuppertal Schwebebahn The Wuppertaler Schwebebahn () is a suspension railway in Wuppertal, Germany. The line was originally called in () named after its inventor, Eugen Langen. It is the oldest electric elevated railway with hanging cars in the world. Being grade-se ...

or H-Bahn systems in

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. A 1.6 km (1 mi) test track in

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Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

started trials in 2004, but on 25 September, one employee was killed and three injured in an accident, ending the trial. The test track was supposed to be extended to 10.5 km, but no progress was made after the accident. In 2013, the

dismantled the line.

Construction

Skybus can run at 100 km/h using electric power, with suspended cars that carry the passengers.

Tracks

Heavy rails of standard gauge are placed in 8m x 2m-box enclosures. These rails are supported over 1m diameter columns 10m tall, spaced at 15-20m intervals on pile foundation. This structure is constructed in the divider space between road lanes. Sky Bus follows existing road routes without disturbing traffic. The steepest gradient was 2%. The sharpest curve had a radius of 100m. The maximum radius of vertical curve was 3375m.

Bogies

had signed a memorandum of understanding with KRC for exclusive manufacture and supply of innovative skybus bogies, the prototype development of sky-bus for the first time in the country. Two standard axle "bogies" provide the drive mechanism. Each bogie is driven by 3-phase alternating current (AC) motor. A third rail provides power. Braking is either regenerative (returning electricity to the grid) with supplemental disc and (emergency) mechanical braking. Power is delivered to the vehicles using brushes or by current carrying wheels.

Coaches

The coaches are double walled lightweight shells with wide larger windows & are suspended below the rails. The air conditioned coaches have 4m-wide automatic doors. They offer audiovisual information to passengers. Each pair of coaches carries 300 passengers. Each coach is 9.25m long and 3.2 m wide. "Trains" consist of two coaches, with total length of 18.5m.

Traverser

The traverser automatically shifts units between tracks. The traverser is a modified form of transverser used in others industries for lifting & shifting objects. In the traverser a platform of track is hung to a bogie which consist of a motor & is also mounted on the track. The traverser acts like a station. A distance of 50m from the last station to the traverser is maintained to provide holding capacity for two units as a third unit is getting traversed in case of unforeseen delay.

Station

The station is an air-conditioned platform 5.5m above ground. Stations have automatic doors and lifts. A smart card opens the station door. The station fits in a 50m long spot.

Trials

In 2004 the

carried out a trial of Sky Bus in

with the help of Goa state government. On 25 September, one employee was killed and three injured in an accident when the coaches hit the concrete track pillars, ending the trial. Managing director Bhanu Prakash Tayal shared that KRC was unable to engineer critical components like the "swing arrestor" and "switching apparatus" which could have potentially addressed the safety concerns that surrounded the project since the 2004 accident. Rajaram defended Sky Bus, stating that the accident was avoidable.

Closure

In October, 2013 the

Corporation (KRC) decided to discontinue the SkyBus project to curb expenses. The 1.6km test track was dismantled as a result of the decision. The KRC had solicited interest from foreign firms to maintain and upgrade the test track; this was met with poor response which also contributed to the decision to dismantle.

Revival discussions

The state government of

considered reviving Skybus for a north-south metro rail project in 2018. Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways

Nitin Gadkari Nitin Jairam Gadkari (; born 27 May 1957) is an Indian politician who serves as the 40th Minister of Road Transport & Highways in the Government of India since 2014. He is also the longest serving Minister for Road Transport & Highways, current ...

has advocated for building Skybus systems for

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, and

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

. In October 2023, he visited a suspended train system build by uSky Technologies in

Sharjah Sharjah (; ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It is the capital of the Emirate of Sharjah and forms part of the D ...

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References

External links

Skybus page from konkanrailway.com

Konkan Railways Skybus page
(PDF)

B. Rajaram, designer of the Skybus Metro

Suspended coach transportation system.
Patent US 6688235 B2. {{coord missing, Goa Transport in Margao Buildings and structures in Margao Konkan Railway Monorails in India Suspended monorails