Those who commute to Penang island from the mainland may soon have a more convenient mode of transportation. According to The Star, there are plans to set up a light rail transit (LRT) track across the sea, possibly making it the fourth link between the island state and the mainland.
The suggested link will see LRT rails constructed near the first Penang bridge, connecting Gelugor on the island, and the Prai Industrial Estate on the mainland, before continuing northwards to Penang Sentral in Butterworth. An interchange with the proposed Komtar-Bayan Lepas LRT line will be set up at the Gelugor stop as well.
Meanwhile, the LRT line on the mainland will see the trains travel through the Prai Industrial Estate, along the Jalan Baru dual carriageway beginning with Taman Supreme and ending at the future Penang Sentral, where the ferry terminal and KTM train station will be located.
SRS Consortium Sdn Bhd project director Szeto Wai Loong told the The Star, “the link will be a lot narrower than Penang Bridge. But we will follow the bridge’s height so that the sea route will remain clear.”
Currently, two bridges connect Penang island to the mainland. As part of the RM27 billion Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP), several other highway, LRT, monorail and tram routes will be constructed, including a 6.5 km undersea linking connect Gurney Drive to Bagan Ajam and the fourth link mentioned here.
Szeto added that plans for these state-approved transport links would now be submitted to the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) before it is publicly displayed in June, where the public can provide their feedback on the proposed project.
How does a LRT linking Penang island and the mainland sound? Would it help alleviate the traffic on both bridges? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
I believe this link is more necessary than the underground tunnel and this will make people less dependent to private transportation.
Typical island people with thier “center of universe” mentality, AKA”u not from island u get off” mentality. notise it is not “make ME less dependent on private transportation”, Typical islander says : “make OTHER PEOPLE less dependant on private transportation”. will YOU take lrt everyday to work if you live in butter worth and it cost rm 25 to go 1 big round from jetty to komtar after change 2 train?? LOL !
you are definitely right . Penang really in dire need of a the last mile connection in the form of rail line. Let say when someone exited from the rail station in butterworth, he or she can able to catch the lrt to the island . I wish this project will be priorities over the tunnel or evrything else and be among the first to be built.
I think they should focus on opening up new transport connections from the Island to the Mainland where previously there was no connections,
like from Gurney Drive to Butterworth,
such a link in the North of the Island to the mainland will really give a boost economically and with tourism,
and also ease some of the upward pressure on property prices in the next 15 years,
by opening up a vast new area where people can consider living.
Seeing as we currently have links in the South, Central and Middle Mainland to the Island, the North of the Mainland and Island should be the next big focus.
Currently there is a major bottleneck caused by insufficient capacity on the 1st Bridge and the Ferry,
More connections have to be created Further Apart, Between the Mainland and Island.
This is another gimmick to divert from current issue that LGE n DAP is facing , what happened to the tunnel has the project started? Nowadays traffic jam is every where inside the island and mainland, flash food is getting worse…Please don’t talk about lrt crossing the sea lah n then divert the issue by blaming the federal gov for not giving the support.
Actually I think the plan is very logical. A preferred scenario should the plan goes through is, “I park my car near LRT station at Butterworth, then cross the strait using LRT. The LRT will stop at the station nearest to my workplace.” If that scenario is implemented by commuters, the impact would be huge – less cars on the island to begin with.
I think it would be a much better idea if the Penang state government decides to build MRTs rather then LRTs as the state will experience a population boom in coming years and an LRT might not be able to cope with the amount of future public commuters.
An MRT will save the state a lot of money in the long term, just like how Singapore decided to start with MRTs rather then LRTs because they knew Singapore’s population will increase drastically in the future.
An MRT might be fore feasible for Penang as the state is land scarce and the state will suffer a population boom in the near future and I am afraid that the LRT might not be able to cope with a large number of future public commuters.
Just like how Singapore decided to start with the MRT instead with the LRT because they knew the city-state will experience an increase in population in the near future.
Im sure this is one of effective transportation mode since the first bridge is getting worst on traffic flows. But it will be more productive if it could be build directly from komtar to penang sentral before continue to other alignment in mainland rather than build the sea tunnel.
It is good, will be better even to link Batu Kawan to the airport, if Batu Kawan is going to be the next metropolis, the latter’s MRT should not only be limited to the mainland. This will form a MRT loop service (to ferry large amount of people) from Georgetown to Butterworth and to Seberang Perai and to Airport and Back to Georgetown. LRTs can then be built to branch off from this main loop to other places.. The current layout has to too many interchanges/switch overs to form this main loop, which may deter many from using the system when it is completed.