‘MRT Line 1 within RM30b budget’

By Sharen Kaur
sharen@mediaprima.com.my

51KM MRT STRETCH: RM23b for systems and construction costs, while RM7b for consultant fees and reimbursables, among others

MASS Rapid Transit Corp Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp) says the total cost to build the Klang Valley MRT (KVMRT) Sungai Buloh-Kajang line, or Line 1, will be within the RM30 billion budget and ready for opening at the end of 2016.

  This confirms Business Times’ report last August that said the 51km line will cost that much.

  Chief executive officer Datuk Wira Azhar Abdul Hamid said RM23 billion is the cost for systems and construction, while RM7 billion includes fees for consultants and reimbursables to the project delivery partner (PDP). The PDP for Line 1 is MMC-Gamuda KVMRT (T) Sdn Bhd.

  Azhar said Line 1, which is now 47.63 per cent completed, will be ready by July 2017 and within budget.

  He said the winning formula of keeping cost within budget has been the awarding of contracts to qualified contractors and suppliers who have been working 24 hours to complete the project fast to avoid cost escalation.

  The first phase from Sungai Buloh to Semantan will open by December 2016, Azhar said at a media briefing, here, yesterday.

  MRT Corp has issued four series of sukuk for Line 1 totalling RM11 billion.

  The company has so far paid out RM8.03 billion to work package contractors and MMC-Gamuda.

  “We have been trying to control cost and we have not spent more than RM8.03 billion of the funds,” Azhar said.

  MRT Corp has, to date, awarded 77 packages out of 85, with a total value of RM21.1 billion. 

  One tender is currently being called while tenders for the remaining seven work packages will be called between now and December.

  “We expect to complete our procurement process by awarding the remaining seven work packages by the end of the year,” he said.

  Business Times reported recently that the first set of four-car trains for Line 1 will undergo testing and commissioning at the depot in Sungai Buloh, Selangor, in November.

  MRT Corp has ordered 58 four-car train sets for Line 1 from the Siemens-SMH Rail consortium through a RM3.36 billion tender that was awarded last year. 

  The driverless trains are designed by DesignworksUSA, a unit of BMW Group.