The pedestrian linkway between KL Sentral and the Muzium Negara MRT station will be opened to the public on July 17, the day Phase 2 of the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Sungai Buloh-Kajang (SBK) line begins operations, Bernama reports.
According to chief secretary to the government, Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa, the 240 metre-long linkway was completed in 18 months, six months earlier than scheduled. It was built at a cost of RM50 million, less than a sixth of the cost had it been built fully underground.
“(Prior to this) there was a proposal to build the linkway underground, with an estimated cost of RM380 million, but after taking into consideration the views of Malaysian Resources Corporation Berhad (MRCB), this project was completed at a cost of RM50 million, with a cost saving of about RM330 million,” he said.
The air-conditioned linkway also provides a link to several other locations, including Menara CIMB, Le Meridien Hotel, Hilton Hotel and Platinum Sentral. The walking time between KL Sentral and the Muzium Negara MRT station is around four minutes.
The launch of the SBK Phase 2 section will open up 19 stations and 30 km of the 51 km-long line. Phase 2 will open up the route from Muzium Negara and then on to Pasar Seni, Merdeka, Bukit Bintang, Tun Razak Exchange, Cochrane, Maluri, Taman Pertama, Taman Midah, Taman Mutiara, Taman Connaught, Taman Suntex, Sri Raya, Bandar Tun Hussein Onn, Batu 11 Cheras, Bukit Dukung, Sungai Jernih, Stadium Kajang before finally ending in Kajang station.
Last year, Phase 1 of the project became operational on December 16, and the route currently travels across 12 stations on 21 km of elevated tracks. The stations are Sg Buloh, Kg Selamat, Kwasa Damansara, Kwasa Sentral, Kota Damansara, Surian, Mutiara Damansara, Bandar Utama, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Phileo Damansara, Pusat Bandar Damansara and Semantan.
