MRT costs RM15.5b so far

Less than half of the MRT's Sungai Buloh-Kajang contracts have been awarded so far, to the tune of RM15.5 billion.

PETALING JAYA: A total of RM15.5 billion in contracts have been awarded for the Sungai Buloh-Kajang My Rapid Transit (MRT) project so far.

MRT Corp Strategic Communications Director Amir Mahmood Razak said the amount came from 33 contracts, including that of seven major viaducts, the underground line and two depots.

He added that 52 contracts – including that of the eighth and last viaduct, the train and rolling stock, station construction – had not been awarded yet, and that the full cost of the MRT would be known by December this year.

Amir said this at a briefing at the Taman Tun Dr Ismail MRT Information Centre this morning.

With 31 stations, the 51km Sungai Buloh-Kajang line was divided into eight portions, each of which were identified as viaducts.

Work on MRT’s viaducts included the construction of elevated rail platforms as well as the piers holding them up. Each viaduct portion would be handled by a different company.

As an example, viaducts one and two would be handled by Syarikat Muhibbah Perniagaan & Pembinaan Sdn Bhd and Gadang Engineering (M) Sdn Bhd, with a start construction date of June and July 2012 respectively.

MRT Corp said that the laying of tracks as well as signalling on these viaducts was not part of the viaduct contracts, and an entirely different matter.

The underground portion of the track (9.5km) would involve seven stations from Kuala Lumpur Sentral to the Maluri station. Its construction would be handled by the project delivery partner (PDP, or project leader) MMC-Gamuda.

According to an MRT fact sheet, MMC-Gamuda’s contract was the most expensive, and was priced at RM8.2 billion.

Open to public by mid-2017

Amir also told reporters present that the MRT would be expected to be open to the public by mid-2017.

“As we speak, we are still on track, and as I said… the first phase of the line will be completed in December 2016 all the way from Sungai Buloh to Semantan, and for the rest, including the underground all the way to [will be] July 2017. This is operational,” he said.

Amir was evasive however on recent claims that government-linked company Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) was expected to get an MRT contract, adding that MRT Corp was “due to announce” the details on further contracts.

A definite price tag had not been put on the MRT as yet. An initial estimate was pegged at RM36.6 billion, with others claiming that the amount would go up to as high as RM50 billion.