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In June, news emerged about a proposal to build a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line to link Kuala Lumpur to Klang. The system, which was reportedly approved by the Cabinet, will be similar to the BRT Sunway Line in that it will employ all-electric buses, but the key difference is that, unlike the Sunway Line, the buses will run at ground level.

Now, The Star reports that the project will get underway next year, and is expected to be completed by 2018. The plan will see the line run along the Federal Highway, running in the middle on dedicated lanes. The KL-Klang BRT line will be 34 km long and will have 25 stations along the route.

It’s anticipated that construction will begin in the third quarter of 2016, and the roads along Federal Route 2 will be widened first to accommodate the new bus lane/s, according to the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD).

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“We will widen the highway before taking a lane for the BRT line,” the commission’s BRT division manager, Norlela Osman, told reporters. Both road widening and BRT construction are slated to be carried out at the same time.

About 80% of the KL-Klang BRT line will offer some form of connection with the LRT as well as KTM Komuter rail lines, and all the stops on the route will be linked to other bus services, Norlela added. No details on fares were presented, but rates shouldn’t veer too far away from the BRT fare structure revealed by the commission in July.

Earlier reports had indicated that the project, expected to cost around RM1 billion, will have an estimated daily ridership of 600,000 commuters. Currently, around 213,000 people reportedly take buses from KL to Klang everyday, and a bus ride from KL to Klang takes about 70 minutes. The BRT will cut down travel time considerably, with a journey expected to take around 40 minutes, SPAD says.