PUTRAJAYA: The cabinet had approved the Penang light rail transit (LRT) project during a meeting on March 22.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the decision meant that the federal government would take over oversight of the Penang Mutiara Line LRT from the state government.
He said construction of the Mutiara Line LRT was slated to start this year, and was expected to be operational in 2030.
Loke said that various funding methods, including development allocation, would be considered by the government.
He said the government had appointed Mass Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp), which is owned by the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOF Inc), as the project developer and asset owner.
"The acquisition of this project is divided into three main components, where the contract for civil construction for Segment 1, from Silicon Island Line to Komtar, is awarded to SRS Consortium Sdn Bhd (SRS) through the single-sourcing request for proposal mechanism.
"This offer is based on the request of the Penang state government, which had appointed SRS as the project delivery partner for the Penang Transport Master Plan, including the Mutiara Line LRT, through an open tender in August 2015.
"SRS has also conducted technical studies and preliminary designs, in addition to obtaining approvals for environmental impact assessment, social impact assessment, and the conditional railway scheme," he said at a press conference today.
He said SRS Consortium had funded these initial studies.
Loke said the contract details and project value were still being negotiated between MRT Corp and SRS, with a deadline of six months for finalisation.
He said the contract for civil construction for Segment 2, from Komtar to Penang Sentral, was through an open tender.
He said turnkey contracts for systems and rolling stock would take a build-maintain-transfer (BMT) approach via open tender.
Loke declined to state the cost of the project, saying: "We have the costs, but we need to negotiate with the involved parties first."
He said the rolling stock operations depot would be planned and built together with the integrated transit-oriented development in Tapak Pesta, Sungai Nibong, through collaboration between MRT Corp and the Penang government.
This new strategy, Loke said, aimed to generate additional non-fare revenue crucial for future maintenance of the Penang LRT.
"Among the conditions for the federal government to take over this project is that the reclamation project needs to be reduced because previously there were three islands that needed to be added.
"The federal government has requested reclamation of only one island and the remaining to be as it is," Loke said.
The Mutiara Line LRT route will stretch from Silicon Island to Komtar, then onward to Penang Sentral in Seberang Perai, connecting with the existing KTM Komuter and ETS railway networks.
Loke said the estimated length of the line is around 29 kilometres with 20 stations, including two interchange stations at Komtar Station and Penang Sentral station.
"I believe this project will not only benefit the residents of Penang but also facilitate the daily commute of workers from Perlis, Kedah and northern Perak, enhancing connectivity with the KTM network.
"The Penang LRT is a commitment by the government to develop public transport infrastructure not only in the Klang Valley, but also in other regions and states for the well-being of the people," he said.