George Kent-Lion Pacific JV gets LRT job

Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd today officially announced that the contract for the Engineering, Procurement, Construction, Testing and Commissioning of System Works for the Ampang Line
Extension Project is awarded to George Kent-Lion Pacific Joint Venture (JV).

“The JV is 100 percent locally-owned companies and is well supported by reputable local and international multi-disciplinary technical partners, all with proven track records in their respective field of systems implementation expertise,” it said in a statement today.

Additionally, it said, some of the key sub-systems proposed also have synergy with Prasarana’s current operations, so in the long run Prasarana will benefit from reduced operating expenditures as well as cross-competency gains that will increase service efficiencies.

With the award of this work contract, Prasarana, the project and asset owner for the LRT Line Extension Project (LEP), has now awarded out all works contracts under the LEP except for the access card, which has yet to be tendered out.

“In all, the construction cost for the entire project is below the original budgeted cost of RM7 billion,” it said.

The project will extend the current Kelana Jaya and Ampang LRT Lines, with both lines meeting at an integrated station at Putra Heights, which for construction purposes has been placed under the purview of Ampang Line.

With the LEP, the Ampang Line will be extended by an additional 17.7km elevated track, starting from the current Sri Petaling station and serviced by 11 new stations and two future stations.

Extension of the Kelana Jaya Line will start from Kelana Jaya LRT station and run for another 17km running through 12 new stations before reaching Putra Heights integrated station.

The project also includes the purchase of new six-car trains for the Ampang Line.

Listed as one of the key initiatives under the National Key Result Areas (NKRA) blueprint, the LEP is a major effort by the government in transforming the country’s public transport services that has been entrusted on Prasarana.

Implemented under Prasarana’s campaign of Bringing Transport Convenience Closer To The People, the LEP would not only enhance mobility for people in the Klang Valley but also increase productivity and earnings for the people.

Catalyst for economic development

The project is regarded as a catalyst for economic development along the alignment especially at the new stations and its surrounding areas, creating business opportunities and new jobs.

Scheduled to be completed at the end of 2014, the project is expected to increase the daily ridership of LRTs by another 300,000 people daily.

- Bernama