Pre-feasibility report on sky-rail presented to KMC

Published On: July 19, 2017 10:18 AM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

An artist's impression of sky-rail line in Kathmandu Metropolitan City.

KATHMANDU, July 18: The pre-feasibility study report to construct sky-rail in the capital has been submitted to Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) on Tuesday.

Cimex Inc, a Chinese company, submitted the study to KMC amid a ceremony in Kathmandu, a statement from the company said.

Chief of the company, Prasidha B Pandey presented the report to the newly elected mayor of KMC, Bidhya Sundar Shakya, according to the statement. Deputy Mayor Hari Prabha Khadgi and other officials of KMC were present on the occasion.

KMC had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on February with Cimex Inc for the feasibility study of mono-rail in Kathmandu.

The company said that it took four months for its sky-rail experts from Germany and England to prepare the report. The report which should have been submitted a month earlier was delayed due to the local level elections, the company added. As per the report, there is a possibility to construct sky-rail in the 10-kilometer-long route from Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) to Kalanki via New Baneshwar, Sahid Gate and Teku.
A monorail is a railway that consists of a single rail. Cimex Inc has conducted the feasibility study in collaboration with its Chinese partner BYD Company.

“The sky-rail will be equipped with Lithium Iron Phosphate (LIP) battery, which will help the rail to operate at the time of power failure. The battery will help the rail to operate for 10 kilometers.

The proposed sky-rail can be built at around one-fourth the cost of conventional sub-way train system and it is particularly suitable for narrow winding streets of Kathmandu. Each coach will ferry around 200 passengers travelling 30-80 km per hour, the statement issued by the company read.

As per the agreement, Cimex Inc will have to submit feasibility study report of mono-rail in all major routes of Kathmandu within a year. The company will bear all the costs of the feasibility study. According to KMC, sky-rail will ease the problems of traffic congestion and pollution in Kathmandu.