The American Transport System Corporation (ATSC) has proposed a project to construct 100-km sky train tracks between Narayanganj-Joydevpur and Savar-Sadarghat with circular ways in the city.

The ATSC is a world famous company that has constructed such LRT in a number of mega-cities around the globe.

It has floated the idea through a local private company, Equalizer, to approach the government for taking up the project, which would cost $80 million and be run on BOT (built, operate and transfer) basis.

The chief executive officer of Equalizer, Anwarul Quaium, yesterday told reporters sky train is getting popularity especially in the thirdworld mega-cities due to its low cost comparing to underground railway.

"The cost of tunnelling to put rails underground is truly exorbitant and many countries have opted for light railway," he said.

Once implemented, more than one million people can travel the sky trains daily at faster speed, which will drastically ease traffic congestion.

The rails will be constructed 33 feet or higher above the ground without affecting the roads, flyovers and wayside buildings.

A team from the US has already visited Dhaka and will soon table a proposal to the government, Quaium said.

According to the preliminary proposal, there will be a two-lane network with 53 stoppages and a train in every two minutes. Each train will be able to ferry about 1,000 passengers at a time.

The entire project will require 40 months to be implemented, the CEO said.

Sky trains will run on electricity drawn from overhead electric lines. The coaches will have excellent features including fully air-conditioning, higher speed, low cost, more weight carrying capability and durability than monorails.

Fare from Narayanganj to Joydevpur may be maximum Tk 30 and from Narayanganj to Gulistan Tk 16, Quaium added.

The ATSC has introduced sky rail in France, South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and the Philippines, he said.