PUTRAJAYA’S decision to decrease by almost half the cost of the Light Rail Transit 3 (LRT3) project and use three-coach train sets would only create congestion at its stations, said an academic.

Universiti Putra Malaysia researcher Law Teik Hua said such trains could only carry a limited number of passengers.

“(If we assume) the demand is high, it would cause congestion in the train as well as outside it.

“However, the upside is that the train can move faster,” the university’s director of its Road Safety Research Centre told The Malaysian Insight recently.

He was commenting on the government’s announcement to proceed with the project at a cost of RM16.63 billion – which includes a 47% saving on the previously announced initial cost of RM31.65 billion.

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng had said last month that the LRT3 would only have 22 three-coach train sets compared with the 42 six-coach train sets marked in the initial plan.

The government had also postponed the building of six stations – Lien Hoe, Temasya, Persiaran Hishamuddin, Sirim, Bukit Raja and Bandar Botanic.

The building of a 2m-long tunnel was also cancelled. The train’s depot size was also reduced to accommodate fewer LRT commuters. 

The government also extended the completion date of the project from 2020 to 2024 to reduce developing costs. – August 17, 2018.