Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has reportedly decided to put the idea of Indian Railways engineer Ashwani Kumar Upadhyaya of having a “Caterpillar Train” into practicality in the state.
According to an Indian express report, Gurgaon may become the first city in the country to have Caterpillar trains that will fly over the city’s traffic. Earlier this year, Indian Railways engineer Ashwani Kumar Upadhyaya idea of designing a “Caterpillar Train” won him the MIT Climate CoLab competition.
The Haryana Chief Minister has directed the authorities to find a way out and put the idea into implementation after Ashwani Kumar put presented the idea to the Haryana Chief Minister earlier this month. The state government along with the local authorities are trying to figure out a way the city can have a pilot corridor that would facilitate Caterpillar trains. The report added that the state government was planning to set up the pilot corridor near the regularly busy and congested Huda City Centre and Sushant Lok.
Caterpillar train was designed keeping in mind smooth transit in a congested area while not affecting the cityscape.
The elevated train would be supported on poles and would only seat a limited number of people where people would apparently be able to choose their own destination. The train will also not take the space that a bus or metro depot usually takes. The train will be able to run upto 100 kms an hour throughout the city.
Ashish who is a PhD scholar at MIT had co-designed the concept along with Emil Jacob, a Romanian-American.
Here’s an idea of what it might be like to have these elevated trains:
