Sky Bus- A paradigm shift in Urban Transportation

M. Mayur

Abstract:

Sky bus is a modern suspended railway invented by Indian technologist, Er. B Raja Ram. It is an eco – friendly, noise free and economical operation, which makes it interesting not only in cities in India, but also in different cities in Europe and America. Sky Bus falls under tramway category, according to the Constitution of India. Since it operates along and parallel to existing roadways and within municipal limits, it is excluded from the Indian Railway Act. Sky bus is economical than metro rails and other means when considered within the city limits, in the view of transportation and safety.

What is Sky Bus?

Sky bus is a suspended railway system, can never capsize nor collide due to its design and construction technique. This is noise free, pollution free and economical with no points and crossings. In short, sky bus is “A unique mass transit system which than can be put up within any two years in any crowded and congested city for safe transportation without loss of time.”

Why sky bus is safe?

The present Railway Technology used in metros, suffer from a fundamental technology defect of derailment and separation of travelling coach from the railway track, falling down on the ground killing people. So long as wheels are on rail, the coach runs, but failure of rails, obstruction or even heavy wind force can create a dangerous situation. But when wheels climb the 25 to 30 mm flange, go over the rail and derailment occurs. Such capsizing can kill people inside the coach as well as those on the road below.

Challenges of transportation:

1. Urban space remains frozen

2. Population shifting to urban habitats, resulting in mass transit capacity

3. Should be free from pollution

4. Should be affordable by common people

5. With point to point connectivity

6. Better quality of travel:

a. Air conditioned

b. Virtually no wait service

c. Safer than existing systems – in view of value of human life.

Though, some of the challenges are met by other means of transportation, Sky Bus is efficient in meeting all the above specified requirements and challenges and serves the public.

Some of Salient points of Sky Bus:

1. Sky bus is innovative solution to the problems of derailments and collisions of conventional metros.

2. The core functionality of dynamics of suspended coaches has been tested and proven according to international safety norms in the year 2004.

3. The costs also are demonstrated to be most competitive. Hence Rs. 50 crores + / - per route kilometer is practical commercial cost for executing a sky bus project.

4. Each and every technology element included in sky bus project is tested and proven in live harsh environments and all the test limits exist in safer boundaries that are laid down by international standards.

5. Sky bus comes to state with no financial risk to Government, being financially viable.

6. Sky bus may be constructed within 24 months and people will be travelling in sky bus.

7. It is affordable for a common man with least rate possible, according to the city constructed, including air conditioned travel, pollution free and high quality of life protection for people.

8. The construction and execution of sky bus occurs with least disturbance to daily city life.

9. No demolition of existing structures is needed, and no extra land is to be utilized.

10. Adds additional urban space every at 9000 m2/per km between stations, a special feature distinguishing sky bus.

11. Transportation of goods can be handled by the Sky Bus, which

is unique advantage of Sky Bus.

12. Employment is also provided in the construction purpose of Sky Bus @ 250 persons for every 10 km.

13. Coaches are made maintenance free in case of Sky Bus system.

14. The advantage of Sky Bus is that polycarbonate sheets are fixed around it to take care of any vandal activity.

15. The Sky Bus is fully – computerized:

a. Self – identification in need for attention ,

b. Need based maintenance with very high degree of reliability ,

c. Minimized cost for the bogies and track is maintenance free.

16. The Sky Bus costs about 2500 crores for a length of 50km, but current elevated metro option using conventional railway system costs about 5000 crores, which is nearly 2 times the cost of construction of Sky Bus.

Fact about Sky Bus:

Sky Bus is the technology breakthrough that India has achieved. Sky Bus is an improved Railway Technology, eliminating the problems of existing metro rail systems like derailments, collisions, capsizing and crushing people, which they suffered for decades.

Why Sky Bus is so popular?

If it is invented by a student, or a research scientist who has no experience in any railway field or no knowledge of railway sciences, then it may be not so popular.

But it is invented by such person, who is a bureaucrat, engineer, scientist, manager and inventor. The inventor is first class first Distinction Engineering Graduate and an M. Tech from prestigious IIT Kharagpur. He served a decade in railway open line in various capacities, another decade in railway research at RDSO & IIT, worked in abroad as a consultant till 1990.

He is involved in Konkan Railway project from the beginning i.e., 1990. Then he was promoted to cader Managing Director and Director of many projects related to Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) till January 2005.

He has own original contributions of new theories regarding rail – wheel and track – vehicle interactions, which are recognized and published by many World Forums.

He has several patents (nearly 50), around the globe, and in India for his valuable inventions.

His inventions cover Railway Technologies, Anti – collision devices, Sky Bus.

He is Mr. B. Raja Ram, the inventor of Sky Bus Technology.

He holds degrees namely Bachelor of Engineering, Master of Technology, Fellow of National Academy of Engineering, Fellow of Institution of Engineers. He is a member of Indian Railway Service of Engineers.

He is the recipient of prestigious FICCI national award for OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO KNOWLEDGE BASED INDUSTRIES, as adjudged by Justice Bhagawati Committee.

Mr. Raja Ram Bojji

Life member of Computer Society of

India

He believes it is in the realm of reality to make food, travel, communication and dwelling virtually free to all humans on the plant through bold application of science and technology to infrastructure development.

He wants India to lead the world in transportation, with Sky Bus Technology, which makes railway systems safer and financially affordable by even a common man.

Technology of Sky Bus:

The basic concept of Sky Bus is derived from the concept of Sky-Wheels presented in 1989 at World Congress for Railway Research.

In the Sky Bus technology, the median in the middle of road is used to raise columns to support 9.4 m wide concrete box 2.4 m high, which houses sky-guides and a powered bogie and can run on the sky-guides at speed up to 100 kmph .The coaches are suspended from the bogie frame running overhead and thus are designed for lighter crush loads as compared to normal railway coaches. Tremendous savings are achieved in systems design.

Advantages of Sky Bus over other modes:

These advantages are categorized in different kinds:

1. Performance

2. Safety

3. Land & Protection to existing buildings

4. Capital and running costs

5. Construction

6. Charges

7. Financial viability

In the view of Performance:

1. Sky bus can be scalable to handle 20K to 80K pphpd, which mono – rail and metro rail cannot.

2. Sky Bus handles cargo for the city – in containers as well as trucks as a whole lifted and delivered to required points. So truck pollution is eliminated. Existing metro’s cannot. Mono – rails cannot even be compared.

3. Speeds are same and somewhat better than railways i.e., 100 kmph to 110 kmph, depending on inter – station distances.

In the view of Safety:

1. Sky Bus is derailment proof and by design can never get separated for the railway tracks, so there is no capsizing of coaches.

2. Sky Bus is protected from collisions, as it travels at higher levels than roads.

In the view of Land & Protection to existing structures:

1. Sky Bus has short stations of 50m length, adequate for next 50 – 75years of traffic growth, combining the local bus stop.

2. Occupies only the road divider with 1m wide pillars, the Sky bus is travelling about 6m above the roads.

3. The Sky Bus can be designed to take 20m radius curvature, hence no buildings will be affected which are following existing roads.

4. These can reach the places, where buses can reach, but the point is somewhat at a distance higher in level.

5. If Sky Bus unit of 20m length is designed, then it can carry 300 – 430 pphpd, while other metros cannot.

6. Least land utilization, almost nothing compared to others is needed.

7. Even the depot areas etc., Sky Bus can make use of space

above existing Bus depots – without fresh land acquisition.

8. Sky Bus is a railway technology, with maximum feasibility options like Bus – while other metro options cannot help in this.

In the view of Capital and Running Costs:

1. The capital cost per km of double line route, including rolling – stock and train control is Rs. 50 crores on average + / - 10%.

2. Maintenance costs are much lower in the Sky Bus – components are smaller, tracks are maintenance – free, the coach bodies are designed to be maintenance – free.

3. The energy in Sky Bus, is used to carry more people than in Metro Rails, which carries more dead loads.

In the view of Construction:

1. Sky Bus uses factory produced pre – fabricated technologies with post tensioning and causes least disturbance to the daily life of city during construction.

2. It takes around 24 months to complete because of minimum problems of land and parallel activities of pre – fabricated structures.

3. Other metro rails take 5 to 7 years in construction.

In the view of Charges:

1. At Rs. 250.00 only, per person per 500 km of air – condition travel anywhere to anywhere, in a month, it is affordable for regular city commuter.

2. Minimum entry charges are of Rs. 5.00 only will apply and floating or occasional users will be charged Rs. 2.00 per km.

3. Other modes of transportation, do not offer such low rates.

In the view of Financial Viability:

1. Fare – box collections coupled with commercial exploitation at the additional urban space created by Sky Bus, produces a 15 – 20% return to the investor.

2. The Sky Bus returns the capital of construction within 7 to 10 years.

3. “The Sky Bus construction goes on without Government funding component”.

Components of Sky Bus:

The system Sky Bus consists of several conventional and some new proven technologies, which makes the Sky bus more efficient. These are designed so that to keep the sky bus moving without any defect and to give the passengers the ultimate comfort along with other luxurious facilities which they cannot get in the local buses or in trains.

Components are:

a. Sky Way

b. Sky Bogies

c. Sky Coaches

d. Sky Stations

e. Traverser arrangements at terminals

Sky Way:

1. In the middle of the road way, pile foundations support 1 m dia column approx. 8m high, and spaced at 15m all along the road way.

2. The Sky way consists of a concrete box structure carried over a series of piers at a height of 8m above the existing road level.

3. In short, Sky Way is the way in which the Sky Bus travels along the road, but at higher level.

4. Sky Way consists of two rails fixed with appropriate fastenings with in concrete box support and guide the Sky Bogie.

Sky Bogie:

1. Standard two axle bogies used in metros for speeds of 100 kmph are used, which gain speed up to a maximum of 160 kmph of standard gauge.

2. Linear induction motor technology is incorporated, with 3 phase AC motors with regenerative power capability.

3. Braking - bogie mounted.

a. Disc Brakes are provided.

b. Emergency mechanical brakes are also provided, in case of any emergency.

Sky Coaches:

1. Double walled light shells with wide large windows are suspended from the sky bogies.

2. Air – conditioned and with automatic doors are provided.

3. Audio visual information is provided to passengers, for easy understanding of sky stations.

4. Special 4m wide or 2m x 2m wide sliding doors are provided for quick entry and exit of passengers.

5. Each pair carries 300 persons.

6. Service is possible in every 30 seconds or one minute.

Sky Station:

1. Unlike conventional mass transit systems, Sky Bus needs smaller stations.

2. Totally computerized control, access control is also electronic by prepaid cards being swiped in.

3. Stations act as only access facility, and not as passenger holding area.

Traverser:

1. Traverser is the system which automatically shifts the Sky Bus units for balancing the loads / changing routes too as well as shift units to depot lines etc…

For Designing purpose:

Even in case of designing, the Sky Bus is easier to design in structural point of view.

The design loads are:

a. Weight of bogie : 5 t

b. Tare weight of coach : 6.5 t

c. Passenger load :9 t

d. Weight of equipment : 2 t

e. Axle load : 12 t

f. Total for a bogie : 24 t

Description of Sky Bus:

1. Heavy 52 / 60 kg /m rails placed at standard gauge floating in elastic medium and damped by inertia of measured mass held at 8m x 2m box enclosure, supported over a 1m dia columns placed at 15m distance from each other.

2. The fixed structure at 8m height above road level is aesthetically pleasing and there is no concern of claustrophobic feeling for road users.

3. Aesthetic and eco – friendly, the Sky Bus can never derail, capsize nor collide, by design as well as by construction, hence is safer than existing rail – based system.

4. The system is noise – free, pollution – free with 18000pphpd to scalable to 72000 pphpd as required.

5. It is a unique mass transit system which can be put up within two years in any crowded and congested city.

6. In addition to moving people, Sky Bus can carry 20 ft containers, boosting its capacity utilization to double that of other existing systems.

Working Principle of Sky Bus

Our Country’s Technology, Sky Bus is an improved railway technology. It can carry 18K to 72K pphpd, with 100kmph and air – conditioned travel.

The two problems suffered by railway technology are derailment and separation of travelling coach from the rails.

If derailment occurs, then there is nothing to hold the coach, then the coach just topples.

When the wheels climb 25 to 30 mm flange, then derailment occurs.

As long as the wheels are on the rails, the coach runs.

But failure of rails / obstruction by a heavy wind force may create dangerous situations.

EVOLUTION OF SKY BUS TECHNOLOGY

The under frame remains the same, railway wheels run on the same track, coach is firmly attached to under frame

positively

The under frame with standard railway wheel – set running on a railway track…

Suppose a standard railway coach running on a railway track…

Such falling of coach can kill people inside the coach and also people on the road, if any.

Safety Measures:

• Compared to conventional railway systems, the centre of gravity of the mass being carried on the wheels is brought down to be closer to the wheel support. Hence dynamic safety is many times improved.

• In conventional railway wind can topple the trains. In Sky Bus wind cannot topple- there is positive link between the rail guidance system and the Bus Coaches- with 400%.

• The railway bogies in conventional system have propensity to lose control on derailment, but additional safety in Sky Bus bogie is that we have derailment arresters, which prevents the wheel from jumping off the rails. So we are ensuring that there is no derailment. Safety factor built into multiple suspenders.

In Future:

After the successful test run of the sky bus in its test track in Madgaon Goa, The Indian Railway has recognized its work efficiency and found it as the future of mass communication in the urban areas. The Sky bus has proved its

effectiveness in various sectors in all the tests it has gone through. Hence the Sky bus has proposed by the Railway department in following cities of India, Ahmedabad, Pune, Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Pondicherry, Ranchi, Shimla, Thane, Bhubaneswar, Bangalore, Chennai Coimbatore Delhi, Goa, Gurgaon and Hyderabad.

Conclusion:

The Sky bus is the technology breakthrough that India has achieved. Sky bus is an improved railway technology, eliminating the problems of existing metro rail systems, like, derailments collisions, and capsizing crushing people. Old conventional railway men, who remained basically operating and maintenance experts, may take a little time to appreciate, but the fact remains. Sky bus is an improved railway technology eliminating their fears of derailments and capsizing from which they suffered for decades!

Financially Sky bus Metro makes urban transport a dream come true for administrators- virtually free gift to people without Government fund in

The under-frame with wheels and railway traction motors & railway track enclosed in the concrete box- travel on the railway track , carrying the coach below outside the concrete box- now the coach and the track are positively held together- cannot escape from rails!

What needs to be done is to eliminate the doubting Thomas in our minds, and adopt the Sky bus, if we want to really solve the urban transport crisis. The Sky Bus metro is one single technology which can change the face of our cities, take out almost 10 million road vehicles in the cities and make the cities livable, improving quality of life and attract and sustain economic activity to generate wealth.