The LRT3 project linking Bandar Utama to Klang will go ahead, but with final costs reduced by 47%, from RM31.65 billion to RM16.63 billion, finance minister Lim Guan Eng announced yesterday. Nothing is for free, of course, and the nearly halved costs comes at the expense of several stations and shorter trains, among other things.
Firstly, five of the planned 26 stations have been deferred, and they are the Lien Hoe, Temasya, Sirim, Bukit Raja and Bandar Botanic stations. Lim said that these stations have low projected ridership. The planned 2km tunnel including an an underground station at Persiaran Hishamuddin in Shah Alam will be cancelled.
Also, the stations that survived the chop will be smaller – based on existing Kelana Jaya LRT standards instead of MRT stations. Lim added that the timeline for completion of the 37 km line would be extended from 2020 to 2024, and this is to remove “acceleration costs” from the total construction bill.
Another sacrifice concerns the trains. The original plan was for 42 sets of six-car trains, but the order has been changed to 22 sets of three-car trains. The minister says that the reduced number of shorter trains is “more than sufficient to cope with the anticipated passenger demand until the year 2035 before additional three-car trains need to be ordered.” With less trains in service, the size of the LRT train depot will also be smaller.
“The savings of more than RM15 billion would not only mean a massive reduction in debt to be incurred, but also result in additional savings to the tax-payers of up to RM14 billion in interest cost over the period of the loan financing. The 47% reduction in cost demonstrates that the new government is walking the talk in securing significant cost reductions for excessively-priced projects caused by the poor governance of the previous government,” Lim said.
The LRT3 project will be restructured to a “fixed price contract” from the previous project delivery partner (PDP) model to prevent future cost overruns. A MRCB-George Kent JV is the construction partner for the project.
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
Dug Ong
on 
May
on 
rightwinger
on 
Akoolm
on 
Chris Lee
on 
Azmi
on 
Rajoo Selvam
on 
Spin Too Much
on 
Rajoo is kunta kinte
on 
Sathiabalan
on 
Ibrahim Saad
on 
Hamidi
on 
topkek
on 
Shamsul Annuar
on 
Alex Chin
on 
Abdul Ghaffar
on 
Kenny
on 
John May 9 Nangis
on 
cronies
on 
Proveme
on 
Golfer
on 
Paul
on 
Tajuddin Ohwai
on 
john
on 
Mahadzir
on 
Latiff Kajai
on 
Mungkin Barangkali,
on 
MusTanG
on 
Dev
on 
Roll'it like Neymar
on 
S
on 
Steve
on 
Rk
on 
Dev
on 
LatukBandar
on 
Tikam duit raya
on 
Fez
on 
Faiz
on 
Anonymous
on 
True Malaysian
on 
tokmoh.
on 
john
on 
U-Tun
on 
Eddo
on 
budlee
on 
Alex
on 
Leo
on 
Tubeng Balau
on 
spoovans
on 
Azlan
on 
Kakiputa
on 
haha
on 
Azman
on 
marx
on 
karam singh
on 
jesse james
on 
phatcat
on 
Guan Beng
on 
vedder
on 
kzm (Member)
on 
Theresa M
on 
enche awan
on 
Guest
on 
Joe
on 
mail
on 
Muhammad Sardon
on 
KWT
on 
Fred Durst
on 
rchoo
on 
LRT3 worker
on 
HICOM Temasya
on 
Min
on 
Kuinosan
on 
Ji Kao
on 
Nico
on 
AI-generated Summary ✨
Comments generally approve of the project's cost reduction, emphasizing that the 47% savings and station cancellations seem to reflect prudent restructuring and cost management. Many express trust in the government’s efforts to cut costs by scaling down the scope, such as fewer stations and smaller trains, which is seen as a move toward more sustainable planning. Critics, however, argue that reducing stations and train capacity may lead to congestion and future inefficiencies, warning that short-term savings could cause long-term problems. Several comments praise the transparency and anti-corruption stance of the current government while pointing out that prior cost overruns were due to mismanagement. Overall, sentiments lean toward cautious optimism, with some concern about the implications of downsizing and project delays.