The Light Rail Transit 3 (LRT3) project development hasn’t quite had the smooth and seamless experience it hopes to deliver to commuters. Unsurprising delays, withheld payments to contractors and an apathetic former chairman isn’t the best way to go about convincing the public.
Nonetheless, a little ray of sunshine has been cast on the project as Rapid KL took to its Facebook page to announce it’s taken delivery of the first train set for the LRT3 line that will start taking commuters in February 2024.
Rapid KL announced that the 37.8km route will be serviced by 22 sets of three carriage trains supplied by China’s CRRC Corporation. In fact, the first set that’s been received is currently at the CRRC Rolling Stock Center (Malaysia) facility in Batu Gajah, Perak to have its interior put in place.
June 2020 saw the project rocked as contractors stepped forward to announce that parent company Prasarana had withheld payments. At the same time, the completion status of the project was stated to be at 33.12 per cent.
After a revision by the government in 2018, the number of stations was reduced to 20 along the route that links Bandar Utama to Johan Setia in Klang. The initial list of 26 stations saw the Persiaran Hishamuddin station dropped while five others; Bandar Botanik, Bukit Raja, Raja Muda, Temsaya and Tropicana, were deemed provisional. Cost savings were cited as the reason behind this.
Commuters from other lines will be able to switch over at the interchange stations of Glenmarie (Kelana Jaya line) or Bandar Utama (Kajang MRT line).
