Futuristic sky pods ready for passengers in Sharjah
Sharjah unveiled the UAE’s first high- speed electric sky pod network.
Belarusian company SkyWay Technologies is building a twokilometre suspended track at the Sharjah Research, Technology and Innovation Park.
Anatoli Unitsky, a scientist and member of the Russian Cosmonautics Federation, designed the sustainable system.
A test site is fully operational at Eco Techno Park in central Belarus.
A development site at the Sharjah park already has a 400- metre track that carries suspended unicar pods built to withstand the harsh climate. It is expected to begin carrying passengers in luxury pods from March.
Another 2km test track is due to open at the park in May.
Within three years, a 130km sky track from Sharjah to Khor Fakkan port could be operational and will be used to carry freight.
Passenger pods hanging on a string rail will travel at up to 500kph once a full-length line opens.
Oleg Zaretskiy, chief executive of SkyWay Green Tech, which operates the SkyWay test and certification centre in Sharjah, said the cost of building the network was comparable to laying asphalt.
The sky pod system will require far less maintenance over time, he said.
“From a distance, it may look like a cable car, but it is light years away,” he said.
“Ropes and rolling wheels restrict that format to low speeds because of friction and load.
“This Unitsky string technology is more like a railroad, with wheels rolling on a rail. There is steel-to-steel friction so it means it consumes much less energy than cars.
“It is a power-saving solution, with an electrical motor that can be operated partly by solar or wind energy.”
The project is supported by the Sharjah government.
With the pods above ground, land is preserved for green open spaces and retail and residential property development.
The rail is guaranteed to remain durable for 100 years and the eight wires are encased in a special polymer solution to protect them from the environment.
An “urban light” track can carry pods holding up to 14 passengers at 150kph. Larger carriages are able to transport pods with space for 48 or 75 people and travel at 500kph. That is fast enough to reduce the travel time between Abu Dhabi and Dubai to 20 minutes.
Cargo pods can carry up to 25 tonnes at a time and travel at 36kph, greatly reducing the need for heavy goods vehicles on the roads.
“Comparisons with a metro system are difficult, as the price of cement varies greatly around the world so construction can be very expensive,” Mr Zaretskiy said.
“The SkyWay system is much more flexible in route alignment, so is considerably cheaper.”
SkyWay said its operating costs were less than half as much as conventional railways and a third of the cost of building and maintaining a road of a similar distance.
The Skyway system is also considerably cheaper to build and operate than a magnetic levitation system, such as a Hyperloop or monorail, the company said.
“We don’t need to build roads or demolish houses like when developing other infrastructure, so we can bring this transport system very close to people’s homes. In cities where land is very expensive, this is a great solution,” it said.
Construction for an overpass with conventional supports costs about $100 million per kilometre, but the SkyWay system costs $10m per kilometre, the company said.
Pods are designed with luxurious interiors, with leather seats, air conditioning, TV screens and a panoramic view of the surroundings.
Rails can run cargo pods above a track and passenger capsules below.
The company said industrial blowers attached to the pods ensured rails remained clear of sand and debris.
An anti- derailment system with several braking points also ensures pods remain safe in an emergency.
SkyWay said its electric batteries are partially powered by renewable energy.
That means its carbon footprint is lower than traditional transport systems.
Mr Zaretskiy said the technology could be used anywhere in the world and was able to span “sea, land or even the mountains”.
“It would be ideal for somewhere like the World Islands in Dubai, where guests could be transported easily from the mainland to hotels. This is the future of transport,” he said.