It has been reported that the Kota Damansara - Cheras LRT line will be built as part of the government’s effort in developing the public transportation system in the Klang Valley.

And since the detailed design stage for the new LRT line will commence soon, there are a few areas which the government must seriously consider before it makes similar mistakes and failures associated with the two LRT lines currently servicing Klang Valley residents.

Due to very poor planning, both the Kelana Jaya and Ampang lines suffer from a lack of accessibility, inconvenient station locations and inadequate facilities.

The success of an efficient mass rapid transportation system, as in the case of Hong Kong and Singapore, can be attributed to the fact that these cities are densely populated, and hence, it is far easier to plan connectivity along the routes which the rail lines serve.

In the Klang Valley, where the population is more spread out, planning becomes harder as it would be much more difficult to determine where the proper rail stations should be located.

Also, due to the lack of adequate and comfortable walkways linking to the rail stations, most rail users would still have to drive and park their vehicles, before using the LRT.

To ensure that the LRT serves its purpose, the LRT station must be built in areas which bring most convenience to the majority of rail users.

There should be no more excuse for the government to waste millions of ringgit to build stations in areas that are hardly used by commuters, such as the Abdullah Hukum, Dang Wangi and Kampung Baru stations of the Kelana Jaya line.

For instance, it is assumed that a station will be built in the Bandar Utama/Mutiara Damansara/Damansara Perdana vicinity under the proposed Kota Damansara - Cheras line. Would one LRT station be adequate in serving this highly populated and popular location?

On the other hand, two LRT stations might not be appropriate, since these townships are just side-by-side and it would not be feasible to build two stations which are so near to each other. Under such circumstances, what are the detailed design planners going to do?

When deciding on the location of the LRT station, the design planners should take into account the popular malls in Bandar Utama (BU) and Mutiara Damansara (MD), the upcoming world trade centre in Damansara Perdana (DP) and the highly populated Persiaran Surian (PS) where there are many apartments housing thousands of residents.

Build a station in BU, and those living in MD, DP and PS will have to travel to BU in order ride the LRT to the city. Note that despite the close vicinity of these townships, one would still have to spend a minimum of 20 minutes to drive from MD to BU and park their cars, and then ride the LRT.

Here comes the importance of walkways which would connect the LRT station to important locations in its vicinity. For instance, the LRT station could be built in a central location (Mutiara Damansara), and there should be several long walkways linking the station to Bandar Utama, Damansara Perdana and Persiaran Surian.

As Malaysia is a tropical country, such walkways should be covered and air-conditioned as no users would want to walk a long distance in discomfort. Escalators and "walkalators" should be built if the distance is more than 300m.

The government should also consider easy interchanges between interconnecting stations, and do not repeat the same mistakes as in the case of the Masjid Jamek interchange, which requires users to climb the stairs and cross the main road when interchanging between the Kelana Jaya line and Ampang line.

Since there are proposed interchanges at the KL Sentral, Pasar Seni and Masjid Jamek stations, the government must make sure that interchange facilities are comfortable and user-friendly.

In Hong Kong, users only need to walk across the platform when interchanging between stations of different rail lines. Hence it is vital that the rail lines are aligned in a way that enable easy interchange at the interconnecting stations.

At locations where there should be park-and-ride facilities, adequate car park bays should be made available, and this could only be possible with multiple storey car parks. Currently, the Kelana Jaya station of the Kelana Jaya line has inadequate parking facilities, which deter people from using the LRT.

Finally, should the Kota Damansara - Cheras Line be constructed as a Light Rail track (LRT) or Mass Rail track (MRT)? Planners should do their homework properly as an LRT line might not be adequate in serving the locations along the line.

Besides, by the time the line is ready for use in 2014, the population would have also increased tremendously. Hence, a 2 or 4-carriage train (LRT) might not be sufficient as compared to a 6 or 8-carriage train (MRT), which could carry more users, and mover faster.

Due to the previous failures of both the Kelana Jaya and Ampang lines, we, as citizens of Klang Valley who use public transportation, would want to know the following:

1. Who are the design planners of the proposed LRT line?

Do they have any experience and what research have they performed in proposing the new LRT line? Who are the consultants?

2. Where are the exact station locations that they have proposed and what are the projected number of users on each station?

3. Will stations again be built in areas which are yet to be developed? What are the detailed plans to enhance connectivity at each station?

4. Have they considered building walkways, pathways and sky bridges to enhance connectivity? Will these ‘connections’ be covered and air-conditioned and if they are not, will users still use them? If the walkways are too long, are "walkalators" being considered? Will the rail stations be disabled-friendly?

5. Has the government considered appointing a foreign rail operator to operate the line? Due to the bad experience we had with all of Malaysia’s rail operators, we do not want the project to be another loss-making project which will cost the government millions in bailouts.

The government should seriously consider appointing Hong Kong’s MTR Corporation (which also operates the London underground railway system and several rail systems in China) as consultant or operator. Rail operators should be making money as this is the only way to generate income for further investments in rail transportation.