MRT alignment changed after public pressure

The alignment of the first Mass Rail Transit line from Sungai Buloh to Kajang has been amended after heavy pressure from those affected by land acquisitions.

According to Land Transport Commission (SPAD) chief development officer Azmi Abdul Aziz, four changes were made based on public feedback.

In particular, the Taman Tun Dr Ismail station, a point of heavy protest by residents, will see adjustments.

"We have combined the Taman Tun Dr Ismail and Section 17 stations and moved it to a location in between the two," he said.

Other stations from the original line affected include the Bukit Bintang East and Bukit Bintang West stations - now combined into Bukit Bintang Central - and the Taman Mesra station in Kajang, which was taken off as it did not fit the new passage.

The RRI station in Sungai Buloh has also been made a provisional station, whereby the MRT will pass through but a station will not be built as yet.

The total number of stations now stands at 31, covering a distance of 51 kilometres.

Speaking to reporters at the MRT launch in Kuala Lumpur, Azmi added that the realignment has reduced the required land acquisition and damage to property by at least 50 percent.

"Seventy percent of the line will be built on road reserves, while 30 percent will have to cut into private property which we'll need to acquire.

"But we will not just bulldoze through and the communities whose residential area will be affected have been engaged," he said.

He added that the communities involved have given their consent, but was unable to name the communities as SPAD plans to hold a specific press briefing on the new line soon.

Asked how much the line would now cost, Spad chief executive officer Mohd Nur Kamal said that the figure would only be known by August, or the following month.

"We need to nail down the estimates with the project delivery partners, it is in the works," he said.

It was previously reported that project development partner Gamuda-MMC had  estimated that the Sungai Buloh-Kajang line can cost up to RM20 billion.

Earth works have already begun in Semantan, RRI Sungai Buloh and Cochrane, while the prequalification civil work and tunneling tender call had recently closed.

"We will be evaluating the bids and once that is done the prequalified bidders will be called for a tender, so we expect the civil work to begin by the end of the year," said project owner Syarikat Prasarana Bhd managing director Shahril Mokhtar.

The fully government-funded project is expected to be functional  by 2016.

Earlier, in his speech Premier Najib Abdul Razak said that the new line is expected to lead to real estate appreciation of RM15 billion for neigbouring areas, in the next 10 years.

He had added that the government is expecting a rise in gross national income to the tune of RM3 billion from the project over that  period.

It also estimates a 20 percent increase of commercial and residential properties, with 1.2 million square feet expected to be developed within a kilometre radius of the line by 2020.

"When the Klang Valley MRT project was launched there were those who said that the government had acted in haste, without proper planning.

"I assure you that careful consideration was made, with the first study conducted as early as 1998 and continued until 2010," he said.

He added that with the MRT, Kuala Lumpur can vie for a spot in the top 20 most liveable cities  list, where it now occupies the 76th spot out of the 130 cities surveyed by the Economist magazine.

Spad chairperson Syed Hamid Albar said that the Sungai Buloh-Kajang MRT line is part of the land public transport master plan, to be unveiled in September.

He added that Spad is also looking into building such lines in major cities around the country like Penang and Johor, although it is still too early to reveal details.