Amritsar, 26 Nov (Press Public News):- Though work on the state government's ambitious PRTS (public rapid transport system) project is yet to begin, the authorities have once again changed the route plan. This is the second time in the last few months that the route has been altered.Municipal Commissioner DP Gupta confirmed that the PRTS route from railway station to the Golden Temple had been changed and that Katra Jaimal Singh area had been dropped from the plan. He, however, did not elaborate on the new plan.The change has been made apparently in view of Katra Jaimal Singh residents objecting to it, contending that it involved a lot of digging work and, therefore, will lead to chaos in the area.Executing co. unawareInterestingly, the local Municipal Corporation (MC) does not seem to have kept in loop ULTra Fairwood Pte Ltd, the company executing the project, regarding the change in route.Project Director Ashish Kumar from ULTra Fairwood Pte Ltd said, "We don't know about any latest change in the route plan for the PRTS." He said he had no clue as to what alternative route the MC had adopted after dropping Katra Jaimal Singh area.The project, however, has not made any headway after its foundation stone was laid in December last year prior to the Punjab Assembly elections.Original planAs per the original plan for railway station-Golden Temple route, the PRTS guideway was supposed to enter into the walled city through the Hall Gate. But following voices of dissent from heritage lovers, besides the traders from Hall Bazaar, it was changed.While heritage lovers contended that the guideway will eclipse the view of significant landmarks like Golden Temple and Jallianwalla Bagh, traders felt it will leave an adverse impact on their business.Earlier alterationThe route was changed for the first time a few months back, as per which the PRTS guideway instead of entering into the walled city through the Hall Gate were to take a left turn towards Chitra Cinema and get into the walled city through Rambagh Chowk.From there, it was to pass through Bijliwala Chowk to reach Katra Jaimal Singh area before heading towards the Golden Temple. Now, in the latest change, Katra Jaimal Singh has been dropped. However, the PRTS route from bus stand to the Golden Temple remains the same, i.e. through Jagat Jyoti School and Town Hall.Heritage intactAs far as concerns of heritage lovers are concerned, the ULTra Fairwood Pte Ltd has already clarified that the guideway will now span across the approach road to the Jallianwalla Bagh and the Golden Temple to facilitate the clear view of these landmarks. Besides, the height of the guideway will be raised to 30 feet on both these stretches, as against the height of 20 feet in other sections of the route.On the apprehensions of the traders, the company said the PRTS is based on steel design rather than concrete. Therefore, it has slender, lightweight and unobtrusive pillars holding up a track that is more like a footpath in weight than a road. And because the structure is of steel, it is fabricated offsite and erected quickly and cleanly on the site. The company hopes to kick-start the work on the PRTS project within next four months.What is PRTS?The ULTra (Urban Light Transport) PRT System is basically a four to six-seater driverless, battery-powered, laser-guided vehicle with a central control system known as magnetic pod that uses rubber wheels running on an elevated guide way. To operate a pod, a commuter, waiting off-line at a station, will get access control using a swipe card and can key in destination on platform station. After this, pod selects the most economical route for specific destination.The project will be developed by a firm named ULTra. The PRT is like a personal taxi, which is demand responsive to a commuter, meaning it can facilitate on-demand non-stop journey within the track network with operational flexibility. 2015 is the deadline for the completion of the project 200 magnetic pods to run on elevated guideways in the holy city 65-70 feet distance between two pillars on which guideway will be laid 7 feet will be the width of the guideway on which pods will run 20 feet will be the height of the guideway 30 is the tentative fare from railway station to Golden Temple 20 is the tentative fare from Bus Stand to Golden Temple 75,000 passengers will benefit from the project daily