Malaysia has announced multi-billion-dollar plans to solve Kuala Lumpur's chronic traffic problems by upgrading public transport in and around the capital.

Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said a new light rail transit line would be built, and other rail networks extended, under the RM10 billion project which will run through to 2010.

Bus services in the Klang Valley, which includes the congested capital, will be boosted with 1,130 new buses and upgrades of 600 already in service, Najib said according to the official Bernama news agency.

Cost-effective

"We hope to establish an efficient and cost-effective public transport system so that people will opt for it rather than use their own cars to move about," Najib said after a cabinet meeting on the issue.

The deputy premier noted that only about 11 percent of people in the Klang Valley use public transport, and said he hoped the improvements would raise that to levels of 40-50 percent seen in other world cities.

Kuala Lumpur is constantly beset by horror traffic jams, thanks to a lack of public transport facilities which forces most people to drive their own cars, combined with a sprawling city geography and frequent peak-hour rain storms.