MRT Update: MyRapidTransit launching & public viewing on 8 July 2011 at KL Convention Centre (Update#1)

TRANSIT took note of the fact that the Klang Valley MRT (now referred to as MyRapidTransit) was launched by the Prime Minister at KL Convention Centre on 8 July 2011.

The launching, which took place in the morning and included a ground-breaking ceremony at the Rubber Research Institute and Jalan Cochrane sites, as well as the first singing of the MRT song by Jaclyn Victor and Badri.

The invitation-only event was telecast on RTM1 from 9:30-11am.

You can watch live streaming video of RTM1 here.

Click here for a larger version of the image above.

Following this launching, the public is invited to learn more about the MRT from 12:00-7:00pm at KL Convention Centre.

Click here to see a larger version of the image above.

You can see photos of the event at MyRapidTransit’s facebook page as well as our photo page. More photos will be included in this post soon.

As for articles, you can see what we have below. We will add links to additional articles as they are posted.

• Prime Minister launches project with 1000 guests (The Star, 9 July 2011);
• Gov’t takes public feedback into account on MRT stations (The Star, 9 July 2011);
• PM launches MRT project, to be known as MY Rapid Transit (Free Malaysia Today, 8 July 2011);
• PM launches Klang Valley MRT project (The Star, 8 July 2011);
• Najib launches MRT project at glitzy do (The Malaysian Insider, 8 July 2011)
• MRT implemented after careful consideration (NST, 8 July 2011)

Additional information

Additional information is based on observations made and photos taken at the MRT Launching. The photos can be seen here.

MRT Line 1 | Sg. Buloh to Kajang | Mid 2011-Late 2016
We have learned that:

• There will be 31 stations with provision for 3 more stations (total of 34);
• Seksyen 17 & Seksyen 16 Stations have been combined into one station at Sekysen 16;
• TTDI station has been moved southwards from the original proposed site to a site between the Caltex petrol station and Jalan Wan Kadir 4;
• A station at the Rubber Research Institute will be provided in the future;
• Bukit Bintang station will be shifted to the west side of Jalan Sultan Ismail for faster access to the KL Monorail and will now be called Bukit Bintang Central; [TRANSIT: Why not just call it Bukit Bintang?]
• “KL Sentral” will actually be built on the site of Muzium Negara; [TRANSIT: So call it Muzium Negara]
• It appears that Plaza Phoenix, Leisure Mall, 1Utama and The Curve still get their free advertising; [TRANSIT: And yet they talk about maximizing revenue]
• There will be 16 stations with Park & Ride facilities as opposed to 13 proposed originally;
• The alignments of Sg. Buloh & Kajang stations have been adjusted

MRT Line 2 | Sentul Timur – Miharja – Ampang – Sentul Timur |  2014-2020 / 2020-2030
We have learned that:

• MRT Line 2 will be an orbital line running around KL town.
• It will be built in 2 phases: from Sentul Timur – Miharja – Ampang (to be complete by 2020) and Ampang – Sentul Timur (to be complete by 2030;

MRT Line 3 | Selayang – Pandan Jaya – Seri Kembangan | 2014-2020 / 2020-2030

We have learned that:
MRT Line 3 will run from Selayang to Seri Kambangan

It will be built in 2 phases, namely Selayang – Pandan Jaya (2014-2020) and Pandan Jaya – Seri Kembangan (2020- 2030)

LRT Line “3” | Kelana Jaya – Klang | 2020 – 2030
We have learned that:

• There will be a new LRT line from Kelana Jaya to Klang;
• This line is to start construction in 2020 and be complete by 2030;
• This line was proposed in the Selangor Structure Plan 2006 (which was recently revised by the current Selangor Government);
• While the proposed line is referred to as LRT Line 3, we note that technically the Monorail is referred to as “LRT Sistem 3” but this may have changed. On the other hand, with the extension of the monorail (below) we may have to call it LRT Sistem 3 and refer to the Kelana Jaya – Klang Line as LRT Sistem 4;

KL Monorail | Extension to Jalan Klang Lama | early 2012 – late 2017
We have learned that:

• The KL Monorail will be extended to Jalan Klang Lama, which was the original proposal (before the financial crisis of 1997-98)

Putrajaya Monorail
We have learned that:

• The Putrajaya Monorail will be constructed.

KTM Freight Alternative Line | Batu Tiga – Sg. Buloh | 2013 – 2015
We have learned that:

• KTM will build a “bypass” route for freight trains to avoid the Klang Valley;
• This line will be routed from Batu Tiga to Sg. Buloh;
• The line will probably be an extension of the Sri Subang spur line (which links Batu Tiga to Subang Airport);
• TRANSIT has expressed our preference for the original proposal, a complete bypass of the Klang Valley from Alor Gajah – Port Klang – Batu Gajah;

KTM Komuter Upgrades | 202 – 2015
We have learned that:

• KTM Komuter upgrades will begin at the beginning of 2012

TRANSIT Says:

If went to the KL Convention Centre on Friday, we thank you. We hope that you met with the officials from SPAD, as well as the representatives from Prasarana and MMC-Gamuda.

We hope you congratulated them on the launching of the MRT!

And hopefully you then proceeded to ask them some of the questions that TRANSIT has been asking for the past year, since the MRT proposal was first mooted.

Did you:

• Ask them why the MRT is being launched even though the masterplan for the Klang Valley has not been completed yet.
• Ask them why the MRT is being launched even though there is no information made public about the other lines.
• Ask them why the MRT is being launched when the finances have not been firmed up.
• Challenge them to show their data and numbers to prove the necessity of the MRT over other forms of public transport.
• Ask them about MRT Line 2 and MRT Line 3 and why information about these lines has not been made public yet.
• Ask them about the reasoning behind the routes chosen and specific station locations.
• Ask them about the plans for feeder buses connecting to MRT stations.
• Ask them to respond to AWER’s concern that there will be massive congestion around LRT stations.
• Ask them what will be done to improve bus services and reduce traffic congestion while the MRT is under construction.
• Ask them why the MRT is necessary when the Ampang LRT trains are only 5m shorter (5m is a little bit more than the length of a typical saloon car).
• Ask them why the MRT is only going to have 4-carriage trains rather than the more common 6-carriage.
• Ask them why they promise high frequencies but will not be buying enough trains to provide high frequencies
• Ask them why the PDP was automatically chosen rather than opened up to competition
• Ask them why the PDP is allowed to compete for contracts when this is contrary to international best practices
• Ask them why there is a fear of international competition for contracts, when some Malaysian companies have shown themselves to be perfectly capable of competing internationally, and most contractors will subcontract to Malaysian companies anyways.
• Ask them why the pre-qualification criteria were loosened.
• Ask them why a company which provided consultation services for Pemandu was chosen as Independent Check Engineer.
• Ask them why the MRT is being touted as “the solution to our public transport nightmare” … just as the LRT and Komuter once were.
• etc.

Why does TRANSIT continue to ask these questions? Because we care. We care enough to do our research and learn about the best practices for public transport planning. We care because we want to see these best practices implemented in Malaysia. We care because we want the best for public transport users, and do not want to see public transport planning hijacked by parochial, narrow-minded, and political interests.

We want the MRT and the LRT and the public transport system to work properly. We want better policy from SPAD and better leadership from our government and wakil rakyat.

We want Malaysia to be an example of world-class public transport. Is that too much to ask?