This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Владимир Малафей (talk | contribs) at 12:04, 26 February 2019. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 12:04, 26 February 2019 by Владимир Малафей (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) | This article may contain excessive or inappropriate references to self-published sources. Please help improve it by removing references to unreliable sources where they are used inappropriately. (May 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
String transport Transport complex SkyWay (Unitsky String Transport) is a special automobile on steel wheels (passenger – unibus, cargo – unitruck, light vehicle with a bicycle drive – unibike), located on string rails mounted on supports (Fig. 1–14). The complex also includes infrastructure – stations, terminals, repair workshops, turnout switches, automated system of control, safety, power supply and communications. Due to high evenness and rigidity of rail-string track structureSkyWay, it is possible to develop motion speeds of up to 500 km/h. Rail-string tracks can be single- and multi-lanes, with track structures located on joint and free-standing supports, as well as mounted (when a rail automobile is mounted above onto two string rails) and suspended (when a rail automobile is suspended below one or two string rails). As to transport system carrying capacity and rolling stock passenger (cargo) capacity, SkyWay is divided into the following classes: ultra-lightweight, lightweight, medium-weight, heavyweight and super-heavyweight. As to speed limits, SkyWay can be low-speed (up to 100 km/h), fast (up to 200 km/h), high-speed (up to 300 km/h), super high-speed (up to 400 km/h) and hyper-speed (up to 500 km/h). High motion speeds place extremely strict requirements on evenness and rigidity of the track. Therefore, the higher the design speed is, the more expensive SkyWay track will be.
A prototype of this technology was assessed by the Moscow State University of Railway Engineering in 2008. They concluded that "the technology is filled with a large number of system defects" and that the system is "associated with great risk". In 2016, a Russian government panel that evaluated the technology called it "innovative, but only in theory".
Although India, Italy, Lithuania and the United Arab Emirates started negotiating with the SkyWay Group, no projects have been realized; Memorandum of Understanding contracts were apparently signed but projects in Lithuania and India have been stalled due to concerns about safety and viability of the technology as well as financial irregularity. The Italian government has banned the advertisement and sale of SkyWay group company shares.
The SkyWay Group is financing itself with suspicious marketing techniques and crowdfunding. As a result, financial regulators in Belgium, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, and New Zealand have issued warnings about the scheme and accused the promoters of not complying with legal requirements when seeking investment. The Financial Services and Markets Authority in Belgium warned that SkyWay Group finances exhibited "characteristics of a pyramid scheme."
Evaluation of the SkyWay technology
Russia
The technology promoted by the SkyWay Group was assessed in Russia in 2008 and 2016. An earlier prototype of this technology was assessed in 2008 by the Moscow State University of Railway Engineering but it was subsequently dropped after they concluded that the project was "not viable and unsafe". According to their assessment, this technology is filled with a "large number of system defects and (is) almost unrealistic because it doesn’t provide an even path for the traffic". The report also quoted that "Passengers are at altitude from the ground level. Destruction of any string leads to deaths. The system is associated with great risk." In 2016, a Russian government panel that evaluated the technology called it "innovative, but only in theory".
Unrealized projects
Russia
In 2007 and 2008 pilot projects of the SkyWay technology were planned in Russian cities. But specialists of the Moscow State University of Railway Engineering gave a negative assessment of the project and it was not implemented.
India
In May 2017 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Sudhir Sharma the minister of Urban Development of the Northern Indian state Himachal Pradesh government with one of the SkyWay group companies. Although Sudhir Sharma said the facility would be started in the next three years, in July 2017 the Economic Times reported that the project ran into controversy when doubts were raised over the credentials of this Belarus-based company along with concerns over the suitability of this means of transport for the region. The congress government was criticised for "the decision to sign a memorandum of understanding with a company with no operational projects anywhere in the world" and doubts were raised over the safety and viability of the project.
Financial irregularities
Lithuania
In 2014, the company planned to build its first test site in Lithuania, but this project was cancelled at the end of 2014 due to suspicions of financial fraud from the Bank of Lithuania, which warned investors that unidentified individuals invited Lithuanian residents to invest in "next-generation string transport" by acquiring on-line shares of the private limited company without a prospectus approved by a competent authority. The prosecutor's office in Vilnius decided, however, to stop its investigations in May 2017.
Belgium
In September 2017, the Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) issued a warning concerning Skyway Capital who were offering investment to the public without a prospectus approved by the FSMA, as required by Belgian law. The FSMA further stated that "the scheme proposed by SkyWay Capital exhibits the characteristics of a pyramid scheme."
Italy
In January 2018 The Italian Companies and Exchange Commission CONFOB – a governmental organisation – banned the advertisement and sale of SkyWay shares in Italy.
Other countries
In 2018, the authorities of New Zealand, Germany and Greece issued an official warning about investing money in SkyWay, specifying that the company had no license to offer investments in the country.
See also
Notes and references
- ^ Venugopal, Vasudha (13 July 2017). "Doubts raised over Belarus company credential for Rs 250-crore skyway transport project in Dharamshala". The Economic Times. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
- https://www.rta.ae/wps/portal/rta/ae/home/news-and-media/all-news/NewsDetails/mou-with-skyway-greentech-to-develop-sky-pod-network
- ^ "Sky Way, l'azienda del "tram volante" che non ha mai realizzato un progetto". letteraemme.it. 2018-07-20. Retrieved 2019-02-04.
- "First Skyway Invest Group Limited ("Skyway Capital")". Financial Services and Markets Authority. 22 September 2017. Retrieved 2019-02-19.
- "First Skyway Invest Group Limited ("Skyway Capital")". Financial Services and Markets Authority. 22 September 2017. Retrieved 2019-02-19.
- https://www.bafin.de/SharedDocs/Veroeffentlichungen/DE/Verbrauchermitteilung/weitere/2018/vm_181108_first_skyway_invest_group.html First Skyway Invest Group Ltd: Anhaltspunkte für fehlenden Verkaufsprospekt] BaFin
- https://economynews247.ibhs.gr/epixeiriseis/17219-epitropi-kefalaiagoras-choris-egkrisi-oi-diafimiseis-tis-skyway-invest-group
- "First Skyway Invest Group Limited ("Skyway Capital")". Financial Services and Markets Authority. 22 September 2017. Retrieved 2019-02-19.
- https://www.fma.govt.nz/news-and-resources/warnings-and-alerts/skyway-capitalskyway-group/
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
lbltwarningwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - "First Skyway Invest Group Limited ("Skyway Capital")". Financial Services and Markets Authority. 22 September 2017. Retrieved 2019-02-19.
- курс, The Baltic Course - Балтийский. "Investment project from Yunitskiy in Siauliai – threat to national security?". The Baltic Course | Baltic States news & analytics. Retrieved 2017-03-01.
- Černiauskas, Šarūnas. "Lietuvos bankas: "oro traukinius" žadančio A. Junickio veikloje – sukčiavimo požymiai". DELFI. Retrieved 2017-03-01.
- "A genuine investment project? A boondoggle? A scheme? Lithuania: a national security threat first". Baltic News Network - News from Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia. 2014-09-25. Retrieved 2017-03-01.
- First Skyway Invest Group Limited ("Skyway Capital"), Financial Services and Markets Authority, 22 September 2017.
- "Skyway Capital/Skyway Group". Financial Markets Authority (New Zealand). Retrieved 16 February 2019.
- Skyway Capital regulatory warnings issued in Greece & Germany BehindMLM
- First Skyway Invest Group Ltd: Anhaltspunkte für fehlenden Verkaufsprospekt BaFin