Clean transport - no pollution, no noise and safe travel - is what the personal rapid transit system (PRT) has promised to provide to the residents of Gurgaon and Amritsar. If all goes according, the PRT system which presently exists at London Heathrow Airport will be seen in the two cities.

The project is the initiative of Ultra Fairwood, the joint venture of ULTra PRT Limited of UK and Fairwood consultants private limited. Adam Ruddle, head, vehicle engineering, ULTra said Gurgaon has been chosen for the project as infrastructure has not kept pace with thge pace of infrastructure development in the city. As a result, there is traffic congestion. And Amritsar has been selected because hardly any organised public transport system exists there.

The PRT is a four-six seater battery operated driverless vehicle which will operate on elevated tracks, build on posts. Thus, the existing traffic in the city will not be disturbed and the system will be complimentary to the mass rapid transport, said Ruddle. 

For Gurgaon as many as 3000 Pods (vehicle) will be obtained and for Amritsar 300 Pods will serve the purpose. In Gurgaon the track for Pods will be laid at 105 kms stretch and there will be 143 PRT stations. In Amritsar it will cover 8 kms stretch, from Golden temple to railway station and from Golden temple to bus stand. The number of stations covered will be seven. The stations in both the cities will be designed in such a manner that distance between each station is 300-500 metres, thus people can just walk to these stations. The system will provide feeder services to any mass transport. People can go to the metro stations using PRT and they need not drive their cars. Further, the PRT stations can be integrated into buildings facilitating direct entry to malls, hotels and offices.

The PRT can be used a personal taxi and also on sharing basis. At the PRT stations there will be touch screens. Destinations are programmed into a central console on platforms. Passengers will be required to touch the screen and Pod will automatically select most economical route for specific destination.  

The cost involved in the project is Rs 55-60 crore per km which includes guideway, 30 vehicles per km and entire control, system.

The detailed project report has been prepared and submitted with the government. If the project gets go ahead, the system will open to public by end of 2012.