Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Iskandar Malaysia considering 500km MRT

Iskandar Malaysia considering 500km MRT
By Lee Wei Lian

KUALA LUMPUR, April 12 — The Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA) is considering a 500km Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system for south Johor.

The line will be in their administered Iskandar Malaysia region — the special development zone across neighbouring Singapore.

IRDA chief executive Ismail Ibrahim said today if the proposal is accepted, the Iskandar Malaysia MRT will be developed in six phases with the first phase completed by 2020.

He added that if the proposal is accepted, an announcement will be made in May after a scheduled leadership meeting.

“An announcement will be made on which system to do first, for improved connectivity we are looking at MRT,” said Ismail.

Putrajaya has already approved a 51km-long MRT in the Klang Valley which is scheduled to begin construction after a July 8 ground-breaking ceremony.

But opposition lawmakers have argued about the scant details of the the Klang Valley MRT and want the authorities to consider alternative public transport systems.

The first line between Sungai Buloh and Kajang is part of three lines in the Klang Valley that were initially costed at RM36.6 billion but the authorities now expect the price to be higher as the project proponents did not include land acquisition and rolling stock costs.

The government-owned Syarikat Prasarana Nasional Berhad (SPNB) will own the Klang Valley MRT apart from the current Light Rail Transit (LRT) and monorail systems in Kuala Lumpur.

The current LRT and monorail network is still operating at a loss as SPNB looks to generate revenue to pay a RM10 billion bond used to acquire the transport systems.

Ismail said that IRDA was also considering putting a Bus Rapid Transit system in place in addition to the MRT.

The IRDA chief declined to comment on the cost but said that the authority was looking to see how MRT could integrate with Singapore's system.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

LRT-monorail integration completed soon

LRT-monorail integration will be completed soon, says Kong

KUALA LUMPUR: Three areas of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) and monorail integration project will be completed soon, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha said.

They are in Titiwangsa, Masjid Jamek and KL Sentral.

The RM4.6mil project at Titiwangsa started on March 5 last year and would be completed by the end of the month.

The passenger tunnel that connects the Ampang line and the Kelana Jaya line at the Masjid Jamek LRT station will be completed next month.


“Overall, I am happy with the progress and hope all the integration work will be completed according to schedule,” he said.

Kong added that Masjid Jamek was an important station servicing 40,000 passengers daily.

“A tunnel is being built for pedestrian safety and to protect them from being exposed to rain when changing stations,” he said.

The RM8mil project at Masjid Jamek began on April 2 last year and was initially scheduled to be completed in February but was delayed due to technical problems related to land works, change of building foundation and utilities supply.

The integration work between the monorail and LRT station in Ampang would be completed at the end of the year, Kong said after visiting the LRT stations at Titiwangsa, Masjid Jamek and KL Sentral yesterday.

On the integration project at KL Sentral, a 410m walkway was completed last August.

Work on the pedestrian crossing linking Jalan Tun Sambanthan and the Nu Sentral Complex would begin in October and be completed in July next year.

The pedestrian crossing would connect the monorail to the KL Sentral station.

Kong also urged LRT stations to maintain a high standard of cleanliness and hygiene.

Friday, April 8, 2011

MRT train disruption affects 17,500 commuters

MRT train disruption affects 17,500 commuters

A distruption to train services on Thursday morning inconvenienced 17,500 commuters. ST Photo: Ng Sor Luan

A DISRUPTION to train services on Thursday morning inconvenienced 17,500 commuters.

[KVMRT: This is a good example by which an 'efficient' MRT systems fail at a certain time. Singapore MRT existed since 1970s and is never problem free i.e disruption, as opposed to some Malaysians who claimed SMRT never delays.]

An eastbound train stalled at 8.49am due to a fault in the train, according to an SMRT spokesman.

Westbound and eastbound trains were turned around at Queenstown MRT Station and Outram Park MRT Station respectively to maintain services.

Eastbound train service resumed at 9.50am.

SMRT apologises for the inconvenience caused.

Loses both legs being hit by MRT train

Thai teen loses both legs after being hit by MRT train

By Jalelah Abu Baker


Peneakchanasak Nitcharee (above), 14, who came here three weeks ago to learn English, being carried out of Ang Mo Kio MRT station by officers from the Singapore Civil Defence Force on Sunday. Photo: Lianhe Wanbao

A 14-YEAR-OLD Thai girl who fell onto an MRT track at the Ang Mo Kio station has lost both her legs.

One was severed by a train as it came into the station, and the other was so badly mangled that it had to be amputated by doctors.

It is not known why Peneakchanasak Nitcharee fell onto the track in the above-ground station at about 11am yesterday, but according to Shin Min Daily News, she had a dizzy spell while waiting on the platform.

Lianhe Wanbao reported that she had come here to stay with a relative in Ang Mo Kio three weeks ago to learn English, and was supposed to return to Thailand on Saturday.

The station at Ang Mo Kio is among the 25 slated to be fitted with sliding doors aimed at preventing such falls; 11 other above-ground stations already have such 1.6m tall doors.

Officers from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) who arrived at the scene of the incident deployed a scoop stretcher - used only in confined spaces - to lift the injured girl off the tracks.

An SCDF spokesman, noting that she was conscious throughout the rescue operation, said her lower limbs were seriously injured.




The area was cordoned off and blue slippers (above), believed to be the girl's, were found on the platform. -- Photo: Shin Min Daily News


Nitcharee's guardian (right) with an unidentified man at Tan Tock Seng Hospital. Photo: Lianhe Wanbao

Kajang-Sg Buloh MRT project works starts in July

Kajang-Sg Buloh MRT project works starts in July (Bernama)

Thursday, April 7, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR: The Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) urban transport project in the Klang Valley is expected to kick off this November in the south area, after the first tender package is awarded to the contractors.

Land Public Transport Commission (LPTC) chief executive officer Mohd Nur Kamal said the tender award would be done in 16 packages until 2012, with the first five packages to be awarded in November.

"On July 8, we will do the ground-breaking at three sites, namely Sungai Buloh, Semantan and Cochrane, for clearing of the sites. The actual putting up of structures will start at the year end.

"The project tender (for the first five packages) will open in June or July, then followed by the evaluation and award in November," he said at a briefing for the media, here, today. Also present was LPTC chief development officer Azmi Aziz.

Mohd Nur said more than 100 contractors had submitted their pre-qualification documents and would be shortlisted to apply for the tender in June. "They will be selected based on their track record, financial stability and most of all, experience," he said.

Mohd Nur said the remaining 11 tender packages would be awarded simultaneously with the last package, by Oct 31, next year.

However, he added, if the winning companies failed to do their work, the project delivery partner (MMC Gamuda) would withdraw the contract and take over the project, so as to ensure it would be on track, in terms of time and cost.

[KVMRT: We thought PDP should not involve in putting up in any package except the tunneling work]

When asked whether LPTC was willing to build underground rail in areas like Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Sunway and Damansara, Mohd Nur said the commission was not ruling anything out.

"We are not saying it is impossible to do it underground. That (decision) will be made later, after the public display of the project plan when we will give the government the total picture.

"If we take that option (to build underground rail) there will be an additional cost. But that doesn't mean we are ruling it out. At this point, we are still listening to the feedback and exploring possible alternatives," he said.

The MRT project spanning about 51 km (9.5km is underground) from Sungai Buloh to Kajang will cut through the Kuala Lumpur city centre. The project is expected to be completed in 2016.