Tuesday, January 18 2005 14:54 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Madgaon (Goa): 'Is it a bird...is it a plane?' - This famous line from Hollywood blockbuster 'Superman' just about sums up the Indian Railways' dilemma about the Skybus.

The Ministry is yet to decide on whether the revolutionary mass-transit system should be introduced in India under the Railway Act or the Trams Act and the resulting delay is giving Konkan Railway officials sleepless nights.

"My biggest problem is that the Railway Ministry has not been able to decide whether the Skybus is a train or a bus. In fact, the Skybus is ready for commercial use but for policy constraints," B Rajaram, Managing Director of Konkan Railways told reporters here at a media preview of the Skybus.

The concept of an electric Skybus, in which the coaches are suspended from bogies traveling on elevated rail guides, is Rajaram's dream project and he even holds a patent for it in the US. He had first presented a paper on the project at the World Congress for Railway Research in 1989.

But time is not on his side. Rajaram's immediate aim is to secure a safety certification for the Skybus before January 31, his last day of work before he officially retires.

Safety concerns had already delayed the project by many months. During trial runs in September 2004, an engineer riding the Skybus was killed and three others injured in a freak accident, which was attributed to technical failure. The incident immediately raised apprehensions about passenger safety.