It’s to no shock that the announcement to proceed with the MRT3 undertaking has been broadly welcomed by the market, with many building counters recording good points this week after Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong confirmed that the undertaking will likely be up for tender this Might .
Damaged into 5 fundamental packages, MRT3, also referred to as the Circle Line, is the third line underneath the three-line Klang Valley MRT undertaking introduced in 2010.
Stretching for 51km, the estimated building price for MRT3 is round RM31bil, excluding land acquisition prices estimated at RM8bil.
With Mass Fast Transit Corp Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp) as asset proprietor and undertaking developer, two turnkey contractors anticipated to be chosen for elevated works, one turnkey contractor for underground works, one for rail system integration, and one other to function a undertaking administration advisor.
Dr Wee mentioned the federal government will finance the majority of the undertaking, with the personal sector paying some upfront prices, with the specifics of every funding scheme differing for every of the 5 packages up for tender.
Realizing inexperienced commutes
Past the ringgit figures, this public infrastructure undertaking is anticipated to remodel how metropolis dwellers will dwell and work as it’s a crucial piece within the transfer to handle visitors congestion, curb carbon emissions, and enhance livability in some ways by shortening the commute and result in cleaner air.
“The undertaking is the crucial final piece to finish the Kuala Lumpur city rail community. This entire transit system will additional encourage public transport utilization. The Circle Line will likely be related to current MRT, LRT, KTM, and monorail strains by means of 10 interchange stations,” mentioned Dr Wee in a press convention on Tuesday. In response to MRT Corp chief government officer Datuk Mohd Zarif Hashim, this milestone for MRT3 got here following intensive engagement with stakeholders.
“This was the results of varied research and engagements over the previous yr following the federal government’s approval for MRT Corp to hold out technical research in April final yr.
“A whole transit community will allow the federal government to introduce extra measures reminiscent of automobile and payment to scale back congestion and drive environmental emissions down,” mentioned Mohd Zarif on the identical occasion.
“Final yr, we shared a number of insights on how MRT3 can be designed.
“Our strategy now could be holistic and according to these design ideas: alignment that delivers a number of advantages, high-value creation to the financial system, utilization of optimum price and funding mechanisms, and driving long-lasting residual worth,” he mentioned, including that the The undertaking intends to scale up capabilities of Malaysian corporations and abilities with the intention to compete past Malaysia.
Sustaining the development sector
In a direct response, the Grasp Builders Affiliation Malaysia (MBAM) mentioned that to capitalize on the continuity of provide chain from MRT2 (also referred to as the Putrajaya Line), the MRT3 building ought to ideally begin by third quarter of this yr.
“The present proposed alignment and stations location present glorious connectivity to finish the MRT loop which is able to assist to spur ridership,” mentioned MBAM president Tan Sri Sufri Mhd Zin in a press release to StarBizWeek.
Nonetheless, he argued {that a} extra fascinating timeline can be for the undertaking to be accomplished inside six years, as an alternative of the presently eight years as introduced.
“It should be famous that the anticipated price of the undertaking could also be impacted by materials price (because of the present conflict in Ukraine) and post-Covid-19 labor price if building graduation is delayed.
Extremely strategic: The ridership of public transport within the Klang Valley will probably rise to 2 million passengers each day when the MRT3 is up and operating.
“If we observe the timelines for MRT1 and MRT2, a extra cheap timeline for MRT3 is six years.
“The truth is the longer the timeline, the upper the chance the undertaking is uncovered to price will increase.
“Moreover, the business is absolutely in want of tasks and for contractors to replenish their order books that had been decimated as a result of Covid-19,” mentioned Sufri.
MBAM additionally referred to as for the undertaking to make sure that native gamers, together with bumiputra contractors, can have an honest share of the development pie.
“It is crucial that the undertaking be achieved by native contractors who’ve invested quite a bit in capital expenditure for MRT2. Thus for MRT3, we hope graduation might be expedited.
“The undertaking might be packaged out to swimsuit native contractor capability and functionality to make sure supply. Worldwide contractors shouldn’t take part except for very specialised jobs.
“It will additionally augur properly for the MRT3 undertaking if emphasis is positioned on assembly surroundings, social and company governance pointers, together with the utilization of industrialized constructing system and digitalisation 4.0, which is able to spur the utilization of the applied sciences,” added Sufri.
Hopes for a shorter undertaking timeline
In response to Goh Bok Yen, a transport planning advisor, the long-awaited announcement was maybe a tad late, contemplating that the MRT3 serves as a crucial hyperlinks for current multimodal programs within the Klang Valley.
“With the absence of this circle line, the 5 main rail transport modes (KTM, MRT, monorail and stage buses) proceed to function largely in isolation, leading to every line or mode being unable to carry out to their optimum stage, consequently leading to low ridership and the attendant monetary deficits.
“In contrast to another line within the Klang Valley, the MRT3 is a extremely strategic line with a really clear goal and undisputed function as a ridership ‘booster’ for all the opposite modes of public transport.
The road will reworking the presently fragmented system to grow to be a well-coordinated multi-modal system, resulting in general higher effectivity in shifting folks.
Upon the achievement of a unified system – each when it comes to bodily and ticketing integration – the Klang Valley rail community will permit buses, e-hailing autos, taxis and so forth to supply systematic first and final mile journeys,” mentioned Goh.
By way of station spacing, he felt that he approximate location of 1.64km in between stations (51km divided by 31 stations) is taken into account cheap for an city hyperlink.
Nonetheless, Goh is urging the federal government to hurry up the completion date.
“Taking eight years to understand a 51km city monitor (with practically 11km underground) is undoubtedly gradual, particularly for a hyperlink which is strategic to the system. Maybe within the tender course of and evaluations, there will likely be specialists who will be capable to provide good recommendation,” he mentioned.
Immense potential to spice up ridership
In the meantime, Prasarana Malaysia Bhd president and chief government officer Mohd Azharuddin Mat Sah is assured that ridership of public transport in Klang Valley will rise to 2 million passengers each day when MRT3 is up and operating.
“Previous to the Covid-19, ridership hovered at about 1.2 million a day, nevertheless it dropped to 380,000 throughout the pandemic,” mentioned Azharuddin, whose confidence stems from the upcoming Built-in Widespread Fee System (ICPS), an built-in fare calculation system that can cowl all Klang Valley-based rail and bus community operated by Prasarana, together with KTM Komuter.
Underneath the Nationwide Transport Plan 2019-2030, the modal share of public transport as a proportion of journeys within the Klang Valley is envisaged to be round 40% by 2030, and ICPS is a key enabler to spice up ridership by offering seamless ticketing integration, together with bodily community integration.
ICPS is an unified ticketing system that was initially managed by the Land Public Transport Fee (now Land Public Transport Company) which goals to permit journey on all metropolis bus and rail networks utilizing a single smartcard that was initially deliberate to be unveiled in 2018.
The ICPS undertaking, which is now parked underneath the Finance Ministry, permits reductions to be given to commuters who make a number of transfers throughout completely different strains or modes in order that these might be acknowledged as single journeys (therefore drawing a decrease fare), as an alternative of separate journeys .