Insiders revealed that the construction of the Light Rail Transit 3 (LRT3) project would resume by November, but with a lower budget and changed plans, reported The Star.
Previously, the 37km rail project was at risk of being suspended after its original cost of RM10 billion ballooned to about RM31.65 billion. There were also rumours that George Kent is no longer part of the project delivery partner (PDP).
But a source confirmed that there are no changes in the partnership between George Kent and Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) to build the LRT3.
“George Kent will continue to be part of the PDP. There is no change,” said an insider.
Notably, construction work for the rail project slowed down over the past few months as the revised contracts and designs have not yet been approved by contractors, Prasarana and the two PDPs.
Moreover, construction work in LRT3 is expected to resume after contractors agreed to lower the cost to RM16.63 billion by doing away with some unnecessary parts. Insiders divulged that the scaled-down design and contracts is anticipated to be firmed up before end-October, with construction work to resume at full blast by November.
Among the recommendations by the Finance Ministry in July to slash the cost of LRT3 is to:
1. Use 22 sets of three-car trains instead of 42 sets, as the former is estimated to be able to cope with the number of passengers until 2035.
2. Reduce area of LRT train depot due to lower number of trains.
3. Use the LRT stations of Kelana Jaya LRT line as template instead of using designs for bigger MRT stations.
4. Postpone the construction of five stations with low forecasted passenger demand – Bandar Botanic, Bukit Raja, Sirim, Temasya and Lien Hoe.
5. Do away with a 2km tunnel and subterranean station at Persiaran Hishamuddin in Shah Alam
6. Extend the completion time from 2020 to 2024 to cut cost for expedited construction and overtime work.
Upon completion, LRT3 is expected to cater to about 36,700 passengers per hour for each direction.
Image sourced from The Star Online
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