Penang To Start LRT Construction In The State Next Year If It Gets Federal Authorities’ Approval

Penang State Infrastructure and Transport Committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari has revealed that the state expects construction of the Bayan Lepas Light Rail Transit (LRT) project to begin in the fourth quarter of 2023. However, this is subject to the federal authorities’ approval of the last segment of the LRT line involving the location of the LRT depot on the reclaimed Penang South Islands.

According to national news agency Bernama, Zairil said that the pre-qualification registration exercise for the LRT project received interest from 45 companies. The companies registered their interest and purchased the pre-qualification documents during the exercise conducted from 25 July to 19 August 2022.

According to Zairil, the pre-qualification exercise was to identify and pre-qualify suitable contractors to participate in the request for proposal (RFP) tender process for the engineering, procurement, construction, testing and commissioning of the LRT’s viaducts, stations, depot, system, and other associated works, as well as the funding, operation and maintenance of the LRT system. He further elaborated,

“By the end of the submission deadline on 7 Oct 2022, we received eight submissions from local and international consortiums. Evaluation of the submissions is currently being carried out by the technical and financial committees.”

Moreover, a report will be prepared and presented to the tender committee followed by the procurement committee. The committees will then identify the qualified entities to be formally invited to participate in the RFP exercise and the RFP tender is expected to open next year.

The Penang State Infrastructure and Transport Committee chairman then asserted that the qualified entities will be given four months to prepare their RFP proposals for submission. Thereafter, the evaluation of the proposals is expected to take three months, after which a report will be prepared for the tender and procurement committees to make the final decision.

The Penang State Government has long pursued the construction of LRT in the state. It is one of the main components of the Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP) and a long-term strategy to overcome the traffic congestion problem in the state.

So, what do you guys think of the statement by Zairil? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!

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