More details have emerged about the Penang light rail transit known as the Mutiara Line.
The LRT was first proposed in the “SRS PTMP”, the transport plan that was put forward by the Gamuda-led SRS Consortium.
That plan envisaged a 30km elevated light rail line from Bayan Lepas to Komtar. It would have had 27 stations, including stations on three proposed reclaimed islands – A, B and C – off the south of Penang Island. (Islands B and C have now been put on hold, after the overly ambitious and ecologically damaging plan was scaled down.)
This LRT plan ignored the original Halcrow consultants’ blueprint for a bus and tram network to cover the entire state for a cost back then of just RM10bn.
But, as many predicted, the state government now finds itself unable to finance the SRS PTMP mega-projects and has passed its ‘baby’ to the federal government.
The federal government has come up with a revised LRT route, known as the “Mutiara Line”. One 24km line is from one of those three reclaimed islands – Island A – to Komtar on Penang Island, which is quite similar to the SRS plan. A new 6km branch line will now spin off from Macallum on Penang Island to Penang Sentral on the mainland. This cross-channel route includes a 3km stretch above the sea.
This cross-channel branch will hover 62m above the sea at its centre span to allow ships to pass below. That’s about the height of a 20-storey building – and over twice the 30m-height of the Penang Bridge centre span. Or two-thirds the height of those new ‘monopole’ electricity transmission towers recently constructed in the channel, parallel to the Penang Bridge.
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In all, the federal government’s 30km revised LRT route will now have 21 stations.
How much will this new LRT plan cost? A figure of RM10-13bn has been mentioned.
Given that the state government had last April mentioned a figure of RM10.5bn for the segment from Island A to Komtar, the RM10-13bn figure (if the 6km cross-channel link is included) appears low.
Several other questions arise.
How much will the cross-channel link alone cost in the end?
Has the state or federal government done a cost-benefit analysis of the different modes of transport – eg bus rapid transit or trams (across the first bridge), water taxis from Penang Sentral to different parts of Penang Island and elevated LRT? What is the internal rate of return (IRR) for each option?
What happened to all that earlier talk of water taxis, anyway?
Has the government worked out the projected annual losses and when the project will break even?
Will the project be on a build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis? If not, why not?
Given that the projected LRT ridership is only 37,000 passengers per day in the first year and 60,000 by the third year, who will absorb the annual operational losses? The operator, the state or the federal government?
If the project cost is financed by the federal government and the state or federal government has to cover annual deficits, wouldn’t this be in breach of the state government’s initial promise that the entire SRS PTMP will not eat up much public funds, as it would be mainly financed by sales of reclaimed land? (The reclamation continues – but who stands to profit from it now?)
And what about public transport for the rest of mainland Penang now? Why must mainland and other island residents endure such long waits for reliable public transport? Why only 200-300 Rapid Penang buses to serve the entire state?
State government officials are fond of pointing to Singapore in justifying their mega-projects like the Pan Island Link. But they do not tell us that the island republic put in place an excellent bus service first before it embarked on its MRT project. Today, Singapore has about 5,000 buses, which carry 3.7 million passengers (2023), compared to its MRT system, which carries 3.2 million passengers.
So why not invest now in more buses for the whole of Penang (which covers an area bigger than Singapore)?
Nobody says public transport will replace 100% of the cars. But if a comprehensive bus network is able to reduce motor vehicles by say 20%, it will make life less stressful for everyone at a fraction of the cost of the LRT and Pan Island Link highway (total cost RM20-25bn).
So why are we embarking on all these mega-projects without a careful cost-benefit analysis of the various options? Who will profit and who will have to absorb the losses?
Anil Netto is a former member of the Penang Transport Council.
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Incorrect facts by the writer. How can you compare the usage of buses when the Singapore govt limiting private car usage on the road.
Nothing to stop the Penang government from likewise reducing cars on the road during peak hours by first improving the bus service, providing incentives/discounts for regular bus users and those car pooling, increasing parking fees in busy areas etc, etc
I was a resident of Butterworth from 1933 to 1941 and have been a resident of the State of Penang from 1947 till now and I have been fortunate to witnessed great changes that have taken place both on the mainland and on the island in terms of land and town development. I am now touching 92 and have been seriously wondering if I would be fortunate enough to be still around to witness the further changes being envisaged. I am much impressed by the vast improvements that have taken place over these years, but I am sorry I am not qualified enough to comment on the ecological problems that these development projects are supposed to have been the cause.