What is pad-way? Preparation for operation of pad-way that will carry 50,000 passengers in an hour

In various busy places of the country, including Kathmandu valley, there are also talks about the operation of trains, metrorails, monorails. Lately, the topic of ‘mass transportation’ is being raised in Nepal.

The younger technology introduced in transportation, ‘pod-way’, has also started to be seen as an alternative to mass transportation. The private sector claims that this technology is the cheapest and suitable for the geography of Nepal.

Neel Bhattarai, vice president of Kathmandu Padway Company Pvt. Ltd., says that the officials of the Commission have given confidence that Padway will be included in the 16th periodic plan being prepared by the National Planning Commission.

The government has also mentioned that it will study the identification of new technologies related to alternative transportation such as pad-way, sky-rail, sky-trolleybus. By publishing a notice in the gazette dated November 7, the government has mentioned that laws and standards will be formulated for the operation of these technologies.

The Commission has prioritized quality infrastructure and systematic urbanization in the concept paper of the 16th Plan. Under this, as the issue of emphasizing on environment-friendly, sustainable and profitable infrastructure construction was raised, the vice president of the company, Bhattarai, expressed the belief that pad-way will also be included.

The commission has mentioned in the concept paper that it will emphasize on building easy reliable and accessible infrastructure for everyone. It is not designated as pad-way. Member of the National Planning Commission. Ramkumar Phuyal says that he is not aware that the 16th plan will promote pad-way as a public vehicle. But he said that a transformative plan will be introduced.

Through this plan, we have prioritized transport and infrastructure. The integrated transport system is to pave the road network connecting from the center to the municipality. It means making it sustainable by using the latest in infrastructure. But the details have not yet arrived,” he told Setopati. Although it is not clearly disclosed in the concept paper, it is mentioned that it will be disclosed as pad-way in the detailed plan.

Previously, the commission member Dr. Phuyal and other officials were also informed about this system by the Kathmandu Padway Company through a formal program. After that, the officials of the commission said that they liked this system and assured that it would be included in the 16th plan. Bhattarai said that they have also suggested that the pad-way transport system can be operated by making it a public company. He said that the government has made a policy and the private sector is also ready for investment.

This technology is not only for personal gain. The problem seen in transportation is for solution,” he added, “We have also talked to many local governments. Balen Shah, the mayor of Kathmandu metropolis, has also said that he is ready to invest 2 billion in this if the law is implemented.

Pad-Way is a technology developed by Belarusian scientists. Kathmandu Pad-Way Company is the official partner of this Belarusian technology for Nepal. This company has been registered and operating in Nepal four years ago (year 2019). This company is now informing the government and various concerned agencies about Pad-Way.

Vice President Bhattarai informed that feasibility studies have been done at various places for pad-way operation. The company also signed an agreement with Gokarneshwar Municipality for the operation of pad-way in 2020.

There was a plan to operate a 17 km pad-way from Sundarijal to Buddh Peepalbot. A feasibility study was also conducted there by bringing technical teams from Belarus and Canada.

The local government does not have the right to grant right of way. We went with the central government. This technology should be recognized by the central government to give the right of way. We could not operate because there was no law for this,” Vice President Bhattarai told Setopati.

He said that an engineer was brought from Belarus and studies were also conducted covering areas like Ring Road, Dhobi Khola Corridor, Grand Hospital Nagarjuna Tokha. Now the company has done a feasibility study at a distance of 100 km in different areas. He said that they are going to study the feasibility in Karnali as well.

Our idea is to give priority to areas where the road network does not reach in Karnali and expand the padway. It is very suitable as people and various goods can be transported from the pad-way,” he said.

He said that the company, which is currently studying the feasibility, will carry out a detailed study once the pad-way is recognized by the government.

He said that the pad-way can be operated only after the government recognizes this technology and makes the necessary policies for its operation. So far, as there is no law to recognize pad-way, this technology operation process has not been able to proceed.

What is Pad-Way?

Pad-Way is a micro-rail. It is the latest technology in transportation. Rail is the youngest system in the transport system like Metrorail, Monorail, Cablecar.

It is powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI). Every pad without a driver is controlled by a computer. It works like a cable car but has mass transportation capabilities.

According to Vice President Bhattarai, one pada has different capacity to carry two to 42 people. There is also a cargo pad that carries various materials. Different vehicles like buses, vans, micro bikes ply on the road. Pad-way tracks can also have different pads.

50,000 people can be transported through the pad-way in an hour.

The cable car can carry three thousand people in an hour. The pad-way carries as many people as the metro train,” he said. “There may be a curiosity as to how so many people can move through the pad-way. An average of 40 people are carried by one pod, while 50 pods can carry 2000 passengers at a time

what.’

Padway travel is faster than train. The train stops at a station for two to five minutes. The pad stops at the station only for 15 seconds. Due to this, Bhattarai argues that the pad-way is very important to transport a large number of passengers in a short time.

This is a modified form of the train. In the beginning, a phone of one and a half kilos would come! That’s a phone too. Today’s smart phone is also a phone, smart is much smaller than the phone of that time but it does a lot of work. That’s exactly the path. It is a very compact and composite form of rail,” he said.

For pad-way operation, there are two tracks for the pad to come and go. Such a track consists of a string. Tracks are made using wire and poles. The distance from one pole to another pole can be kept at a distance of two kilometers. According to Bhattarai, the construction period will be shorter and the cost will also be reduced.

This is the cheapest technology in transportation today. Padway is 50% cheaper than cable car. Pad-way is prepared with only 4 percent of the cost of building a metro rail,” he said.

Passengers may be charged Rs.10 per kilometer. According to the European standard, the construction of pad-way costs 3 million dollars per kilometer, i.e. about 40 million Nepali rupees. At this cost, the station, pad and wire are all ready.

“We are talking about trains, metro trains. Our capacity is not enough for this,” he says. “Building a metro rail costs 10 billion per kilometer. It takes years to make.

According to him, 100 km pad-way can be built in one and a half years. Before this, technology suitable for our geography was not developed. This geography is suitable. It runs well on ups and downs,” he said.

According to him, the pad can go well up to 45 degrees. He said that there is no risk of accidents on the pad-way. As it is controlled by AI, it can change the speed of the rear wheel depending on the speed of the front wheel. The speed is set accordingly as the rear one knows in advance that the front wheel will stop.

He said that it will be more convenient as there will be no compensation dispute while conducting the pad-way project.

Because this pad-way can be driven on the road. Its station is also like a sky bridge. Pad-way can also be operated on the route along the river, but the government had to give the right of way, he said.

Prof. Dr. Suryaraj Acharya says that it can be developed in Nepal by studying the new technology introduced in transportation.

New technology makes it easier. But some techniques are simple in theory and complex in practice. In that case, before using any technology, one should study well,” he said.

He said that it can be conducted in Nepal after studying it properly.

“Talking about my experience, three months ago I had the opportunity to travel on a pad-way in the United Arab Emirates. A three-kilometer pad-way has been constructed there for the study,” he said, “running on a wire suspended in the sky. The promoters say that it is much cheaper than the railway.

He says that even here, the private sector says that we can operate, but it will not make a difference if the government facilitates it.