MASS Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp) CEO Shahril Mokhtar said he hopes that the MRT Line 3 project will be revived in the future, when the country’s finances are in better shape.

He said MRT Corp abides by the Pakatan Harapan government’s decision to cancel the project, but added that it is important to ensure transport connectivity in Kuala Lumpur in the future.

“We hope that one day, in the future, once the government’s fiscal position is better, the government will consider this.

“It’s not a mistake to cancel, but it still needs to be done in the future,” he told reporters after a meeting with the Council of Eminent Persons at Ilham Tower in Kuala Lumpur.

The 40km MRT3, also known as the Circle Line, would have linked MRT1 and MRT2, and was seen as critical to closing the public transport loop.

Shahril said the project was not discussed with the council today.

He said MRT3 had yet to take off, and was at the planning and development stage after approval was given by the previous government in October last year.

“We’ve just started planning. No foundation, nothing. (The contracts) are insignificant because we just started, no major contracts are being awarded.”

Of the line’s total 40km, 32km was to have been underground. MRT3 was slated to begin operations in 2025.

Earlier this year, the New Straits Times reported that three local consortiums and one from China had submitted turnkey bids with financing for MRT3.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced the scrapping of the RM40 billion project as part of the new government’s cost-cutting plan.

The cancellation followed the decision to axe the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail project. – June 1, 2018.