It has now been confirmed that the LRT3 Shah Alam Line is only expected to begin operations at the end of the year. The new timeline for its opening was announced by transport minister Anthony Loke earlier today, the New Straits Times reports.
He said that the project, which was initially targeted to begin operations on September 30, had been slightly delayed due to several tests still being required. “Nonetheless, we are committed to ensuring that the initial LRT3 alignment from Klang to Petaling Jaya will begin operating before year-end. The project has been closely monitored and we are confident it can be opened to the public as planned,” he said.
The confirmation follows on a news report earlier today, in which it had been indicated that the opening of the rail line had been delayed to end-2025.
Previously, Loke had on July 30 said in a written parliamentary reply that the LRT3 was 99.21% complete as of July 10. However, Prasarana said on social media on July 25 that the trains would be “tested round-the-clock” until October 31 – a month after the targeted September 30 opening date. This post was amended to remove the date after The Star ran an August 4 story about the delay.
The 37-km line will feature 25 stations from Bandar Utama to Johan Setia, with interchanges at Bandar Utama (Kajang MRT) and Glenmarie (Kelana Jaya LRT). It has been subjected to various changes since the 2018 government change, mostly to do with down-scaling and cost-cutting.
Later this week, the first of the 22 trains must complete 4,000 km of testing without faults; the rest must do at least 2,000 km each. Each train must also be able to travel the entire length of the line in an hour or less at a maximum of six minutes’ headway, which is needed to move 18,630 passengers per hour per direction.
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