LRT3 on track for September 30 start, 99.21% complete

The upcoming Light Rail Transit 3 (LRT3) Shah Alam Line was 99.21% complete as of July 10 and is expected to meet the September 30 start of its operations. Transport minister Anthony Loke, who previously indicated this back in February, reiterated the numbers in a written parliamentary reply yesterday.

He said this in response to a query from Muhammad Fawwaz Mohamad Jan (PN – Permatang Pauh), who had asked the ministry to explain the cause of delays and the increase in project costs, The Star reports.

He said the project faced delays largely due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which disrupted works between March 2020 and October 2021, with the MCO triggering supply chain disruptions and shortages in building materials, particularly that of steel and cement. It also caused a shortage of skilled and semi-skilled labour to come about, with foreign worker entry permits only resuming in November 2023.

As for costs, Loke said that the nearly RM10 bilion has been saved on the LRT3 project despite the reinstatement of several components from its original scope. The cost of the project now stands at RM21.93 billion, which was RM9.72 billion less than the originally approved cost of RM31.65 billion when the project was first introduced in 2015.

Initially designed with 26 stations to serve the western corridor of the Greater Klang Valley, the project was launched in 2016 with a RM9 billion budget. In 2018, the Pakatan Harapan government shelved the construction of five stations and cancelled one, reducing the overall cost to RM16.63 billion.

However, Budget 2024 saw prime minister and finance minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announce that the five stations – Tropicana (previously Lien Hoe), Temasya, Raja Muda (Sirim), Bukit Raja and Bandar Botanik – would be reinstated at a cost of RM5.3 billion.

The costs also includes seven three-carriage trains, an expanded train depot in Johan Setia, 150 electric shuttle buses and the construction of three bus depots.

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