A coalition of NGOs critical of the Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP) has blasted Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng for saying “everyone tells us trams are more expensive”.

Penang Forum said the state government’s own consultants had shown that trams are actually cheaper than Light Rail Transit (LRT) to construct.

The coalition claimed the state’s project delivery partner SRS Consortium - responsible for implementing the PTMP - subsequently escalated the construction cost for trams by over five times while leaving that of LRT the same.

Penang Forum said the state government’s own transport master plan consultant Halcrow also stated that the estimated cost of construction per kilometre for trams is RM40 million at grade, and RM80 million if elevated.

“Furthermore, our interviews with the two tram manufacturers showed that the average construction costs per kilometre for trams ranges from 17 million euros to 25 million euros,” the coalition said in a statement today.

“It is of great worry to Penangites that if the chief minister has been so erroneously advised on such a basic issue, what of the more complex ones?

“Not only the construction costs, but more importantly, the yearly operating and maintenance costs of trams are two to three times cheaper than LRT according to experts we interviewed,” the steering committee added.

The activists were responding to what they described as Lim’s direct accusation that they were being “emotional”, and that their statements on the PTMP were not based on facts.

Lim (photo) had claimed that Penang Forum’s research was only based on two or three days of “Google searches” as opposed to that of experts with 10 years’ experience.

Lim was referring to the proposal for an alternative PTMP, which they claimed is “better, faster and cheaper”.

The NGOs proposed that the state seek an alternative financing model other than the current reclamation of 4,000 acres of land in the southern post of the island, and that trams be used instead of LRT.

“On the contrary, we carried out about four months of research (not two days),” the coalition shot back.

“This included interviews with representatives of two of the world’s largest tram manufacturers, top officials at Spad (Land Public Transport Commission), and senior traffic consultants for our study.

“This is not to mention the 42 years of experience of the Halcrow consultant (which) prepared the RM3.2 million PTMP,” it added.

Penang Forum claimed it had highlighted these operations and management costs that SRS has avoided responding to.

It said these costs and the actual ridership will make or break the financial feasibility of the SRS proposals.

“These questions have not been satisfactorily answered by SRS, and state executive councillor in-charge of traffic management Chow Kon Yeow in his A-Z answers,” Penang Forum said.

Chow, in a recent meeting with SRS Consortium, has said that Penang Forum’s alternative transport master plan did not suggest any refinancing model, and its proposals for trams would probably lead to more congestion.

“May we suggest that a series of public forums be held where SRS, state officials and Penang Forum can make their presentations to the public for their consideration,” the NGOs added.

“We propose that international tram manufacturers (such as CAF, Alstom, CRRC) and transport consultants be invited to take part in this forum,” they said.