Penang exco approves railway, highway lines for transport master plan

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on December 17, 2015.

The Penang executive council approves the Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP) for the railway and highway schemes that include a rail line from Komtar to the airport and the Pan Island Link. Photo by The Malaysian Insider

GEORGE TOWN: The Penang executive council (exco) yesterday gave the green light to the Penang Transport Master Plan’s (PTMP) project delivery partner SRS Consortium Sdn Bhd for the railway and highway schemes that include a rail line from Komtar, George Town, to the Penang International Airport in Bayan Lepas and Pan Island Link.

SRS tabled the plans to the state exco yesterday morning.

The railway scheme covers both the island and mainland, with one light rail transit (LRT) and two monorail lines on the island, one LRT line across the sea linking both sides of Penang, and a bus rapid transit (BRT) system..

Exco member Chow Kon Yeow said the priority of the railway scheme will be the LRT line linking Komtar to the Penang International Airport.

This project, he said, would be Phase 1 of the railway scheme and be treated as a priority project.

“With the green light given by the state, SRS will proceed to propose the railway scheme to Spad (Land Public Transport Commission)

“SRS will consult with Spad for its guidance and advice concerning the proposal to build a railway system in Penang,” he said here yesterday.

Chow said the state had also approved the highway scheme. The priority highway project, he said, is the Pan Island Link, which connects Gurney Drive to Bayan Lepas.

“The alignment was also presented to the exco today (yesterday). The next step by SRS is to conduct the DEIA (detailed environmental impact assessment) of this proposed project,” he said.

SRS project manager Szeto Wei Loong said the next stage after securing the state’s approval is to engage the public and inform them of the alignments of the projects.

“We are going to do a preliminary detailed design of the Phase 1 LRT line, which will be submitted to Spad for the railway scheme approval.

“A condition for approval is giving Spad the overall master plan of the railway network, which the state had approved this (yesterday) morning.

“We will liaise with Spad regarding this master plan submission, and this will take another six months. Once ready, it will be up for public display.

“At the same time, we will also be submitting the DEIA of the LRT line. We hope by the third quarter of next year, all the railway schemes will be approved,” he said.

For the Pan Island Link, Szeto said SRS will submit the DEIA, which will take another six months for studies to be conducted and completed, and be submitted to the Department of Environment for approval.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the state had not approved any land reclamation yet or other components of the PTMP.

SRS has proposed to reclaim two or three islands in the south of Penang island to finance the RM27 billion master plan. The islands would be auctioned to pay for the transport projects in the master plan if all federal approvals are obtained. — The Malaysian Insider