PTI
NEW DELHI: The ambitious Skybus project connecting Mapusa to Panjim is finally bidding goodbye as the Konkan Railway has decided to scrap the project in the absence of qualified bidders.
After lying in limbo for nine years, the 1.6-km-long test track structure placed at about 10 meters above the ground at Margao will be demolished and sold as scrap. Besides the structure, two air-conditioned coaches ~ part of the Skybus service ~ will also be sold.
“It is a sad decision to scrap the project. But there are no other options as we tried for long to make it operational,” BP Tayal, Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Konkan Railway said.
The Skybus project, first-of-its-kind in India, is a modified rail with overhead tracks on the underside of a concrete structure at a height of about 10 meters from the ground. The concrete lane is supported by columns rising from the central verge of existing roads.
“We invited global expression of interest for the project twice but did not get any favourable response,” Tayal said, adding “now the maintenance cost is rising so we have to dispose it off before the corrosion sets in”.
The indigenous project had cost about Rs 50 crore. Konkan Railway has to spend about Rs 3 crore more for the dismantling the structure.
“It was the decision of Board of Directors to scrap the project. A technical committee will be set up now to suggest ways for dismantling the structure,” said the Konkan Railway CMD.
Konkan Railway is expecting to fetch Rs 5 crore from the scrap disposal of the project.
Besides scrap disposal, we will try to market the Skybus patents also, Tayal said.
The Skybus project was former Prime Minister AB Vajpayee’s New Year gift to Goa in 2003. The pilot project was to connect Mapusa to Panjim. It was supposed to be a 10.5 km route in the first phase.
Accordingly, trial runs were conducted at a 1.6 km long test-track at Margao. However, a mishap occurred in September 2004 during the trial raising serious concerns about passenger safety, forcing the authorities to re-evaluate the system.
Though the Konkan Railway had tried to revive the project on its own after the global expression of interests failed to evoke the desired response, it could not materialize due to financial constraint.
