Penang baffles with more expensive LRT than cheaper ART

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The first ART route will be called the Blue Line running from Rembus to Riveria over a distance of 27.6km and it may start operation in early 2026. – Bernama photo. For image info, go to https://www.theborneopost.com/2023/12/06/sarawaks-first-art-line-to-be-completed-end-of-2025/ 

Penang baffles with more expensive LRT than cheaper ART

KUALA LUMPUR, March 17, 2024: Penang governments, including the current DAP-led administration by Chow Kon Yeow, are a baffling lot when it comes to wanting to implement a public rail transport system.

In 2018, a year after the new technology of autonomous rail transit (ART) was introduced in China, Penang Forum suggested to the state government to seriously consider adopting this system.

ART would be easy and quick to build and highly flexible in terms of coverage. It would cost one-tenth that of an LRT. It would also be environmentally friendlier.

Yet, the Penang government resisted without sound reasons. It dithered and scrambled to raise RM10 billion to build a single line that would take many years to construct.

Meanwhile, Sarawak ran with the idea and will soon operate the country’s first ART system.

God only knows why Penang insists on the more expensive LRT than the cheaper ART.

No News Is Bad News reproduces below reports on the LRT and ART:

OPINION

Reconsider Penang LRT: Consider better, cheaper, faster options – Lim Mah Hui

Putrajaya should reconsider its funding for project on financial and technical grounds.

Updated 1 hour ago · Published on 17 Mar 2024 1:19PM

A view of an LRT train in Selangor as it undergoes maintenance. – The Vibes file pic, March 17, 2024

AFTER several failed attempts by the Penang state government to fund a bloated “Penang Transport Master Plan” (PTMP), it turned to the federal government to finance the LRT, the first project of the PTMP.

Most ordinary people would fully support the urgent need for Penang to have an efficient and affordable public transport system. In fact, members of Penang Forum were the ones who suggested this initiative to the state government soon after it won the 2008 state election. Its representatives served pro bono in the Penang Transport Council.

Civil society, however, is strongly opposed to the revised PTMP that the Penang state government is pushing, not only because it is overblown (in 2015, the project was estimated at RM46 billion but will surely cost more now). It is also too car-centric and highway focused and will not solve the transport and mobility challenges of Penang.

The public transport modes pushed by the private sector and proposed in the revised PTMP – elevated LRT and monorail systems to replace trams and buses – are inflexible and limited in coverage. Such transport modes are also financially exorbitant and not viable.

Not only that, the heavy concrete infrastructure for LRT and monorail is environmentally inappropriate and destructive for Penang, which is renowned for its architectural heritage and historical streetscape.

Exorbitant price in billions

In 2018, a year after the new technology of autonomous rail transit (ART) was introduced in China, Penang Forum suggested to the state government to seriously consider adopting this system. Such a system would be easy and quick to build and highly flexible in terms of coverage. It would cost one-tenth that of an LRT. It would also be environmentally friendlier.

Yet, the state government resisted without sound reasons. It dithered and scrambled to raise RM10 billion to build a single line that would take many years to construct.

Meanwhile, Sarawak ran with the idea and will soon operate the country’s first ART system.

The Star reported that the state’s 70km ART network would cost RM80 million per km.

Compare this to Penang’s proposed 20 km LRT line estimated to cost RM10 billion, ie RM500 million per km, which is roughly equivalent to the RM540 million per km for the Kuala Lumpur LRT3 system.

And that is just for one line from Komtar to the airport.

Are we now looking at RM25 billion to RM30 billion for the LRT network to cover the entire state of Penang, including a cross-channel link?

Compare this to the original Penang transport blueprint prepared by consultants from Halcrow: they had estimated that the entire public transport system – trams (including elevated sections), buses and water taxis – for the whole of Penang state would come up to just RM10 billion.

Concerns about low ridership

As early as 2015, we highlighted unrealistic ridership projections and the non-financial viability of the Komtar-airport LRT line.

The Gamuda-led SRS Consortium, which had proposed the line, had projected a totally unrealistic initial annual ridership of 42 million for a population catchment of about 250,000 people. With a projected annual operation and maintenance cost of RM170m and an average fare of RM4 per ride, the project was expected to break even.

However, if the ridership were 8 million – a more realistic number that we estimated – the deficit would rise to RM138m. That’s a quarter of the state government’s annual revenue. (Significantly, a few years later, Gamuda reduced its projected ridership to 8 million.)

Despite the hundreds of billions of ringgit spent on the mass rapid transit (MRT), LRT and monorails in the Klang Valley, Transport Minister Anthony Loke revealed that the public transport modal share there is only 15%.

It is common knowledge among transport experts that splashing money on an LRT network alone without putting in place proper supporting policies will not solve mobility problems. Issues of connectivity, flexibility, first and last-mile accessibility, punctuality, priority lanes for public transport vehicles, punctuality and affordability have to be adequately addressed.

We urge the government not to repeat the mistakes of the Klang Valley public transport experience.

Given all this, the Penang LRT system should be meticulously reviewed technically not only for its claimed ability to resolve transport mobility but also because of the high costs involved.

At a time when Malaysia is facing challenging financial constraints and when ordinary people are struggling with their daily needs, the amount of funding required for the Penang LRT is exorbitant.

Do we need to spend extravagant sums on mega-projects that may not deliver promised results when better, cheaper and faster alternatives are available? As the premier of Sarawak recently said, his state is ready to share its experience in this journey. – The Vibes, March 17, 2024

Lim Mah Hui is an economist and former international banker

Premier: Sarawak changed from LRT to ART due to lower costs

BY RINTOS MAIL ON DECEMBER 16, 2022, FRIDAY AT 2:52 PMSARAWAK

Abang Johari (third right) checks the ART’s routes on a topographic map. From left are Dr Sim, Sarawak Metro CEO Mazli Mustaffa, Abdul Aziz, Lee, and Rubiah. – Photo by Chimon Upon

KUCHING (Dec 16): The state government changed its public transport plans from a light rail transit (LRT) system to the Autonomous Rapid Transit (ART) because of the lower costs, said Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.

He said implementing the ART project to modernise Sarawak’s public transport system is within the state government’s means.

“In terms of costs, the whole project that covers Kuching, Samarahan, and Serian will cost RM6 billion.

“As it may take about six or seven years to complete, it means your budget, cash flow, is about RM1 billion a year.

“And this is within our means, and with the amount we are going to provide good service in our public transport system,” he told a press conference after launching the Kuching Urban Transportation System (KUTS) project – Phase 1 in Kota Samarahan today.

Abang Johari said although he was criticised initially, over time it has become clear from the cost benefit analysis that the project’s benefits exceed its costs.

He said aside from providing a sophisticated, efficient, and friendly public transport system to commuters, the KUTS project is also creating job opportunities for Sarawakians.

In terms of human resources, he said the ART system involves high technology.

“And today we have seen Sarawakians who worked with Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) in Kuala Lumpur coming back and they are working with Sarawak Metro now because they have got the experience.

“It means we have created jobs that allow people to earn quite a high pay. This project will surely bring benefits to Sarawakians who have studied in the field of information technology, public transport, and in human relations,” he said.

Abang Johari pointed out that another benefit of the ART system is that it will operate on a schedule, where passengers will know when the ART will arrive for them to travel to their respective destinations.

He said the ART in Sarawak will be the first in the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) region where the public transport system uses green energy with hydrogen-powered vehicles.

He said the project will part of the state’s green economy, where Sarawak will use green energy to manage and move its public transport system.

“This will certainly sustain our environment as well as give good public transport services to the public.

“If in Samarahan, students will want to have a very good public transport system within their affordability; which is faster mobility at a fixed price.

“Aside from that, tourists can onboard the ART and they can go anywhere they like, especially if they want to go to Damai and also other places of interest,” he said.

Abang Johari said the ART is a facility the public at large need and expects to build the system in other areas.

“Maybe not within my time. Other people will continue because this is the latest mode of transport.

“Even Singapore now is transitioning towards a green economy. And, apparently, we are quite advanced in terms of green economy,” he said.

Among those present were Deputy Premier Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian, Transport Minister Dato Sri Lee Kim Shin, Deputy Minister of Rural and Regional Development Datuk Rubiah Wang, and Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) chairman Tan Sri Datuk Amar Abdul Aziz Husain.