Mutiara Line LRT construction in Penang to begin in fourth quarter 2026
GEORGE TOWN: Large-scale construction of the Mutiara Line Light Rail Transit (LRT) project is expected to take shape in the fourth quarter of next year.
Mass Rapid Transit Corporation (MRT Corp) chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Zarif Hashim said, based on the progress, the contractor, SRS Consortium Sdn Bhd (SRS), would soon begin soil investigations along the Mutiara Line LRT route.
He said that soil investigations had already been carried out previously and that the data was available, adding that this was not a new process.
"It is possible that there are some locations where the contractor needs to make adjustments, which means an update. The last soil investigation was conducted around 2018, so it has been quite a while.
"Now, what the contractor needs to do is conduct another round of soil investigations in certain areas. Once this is done, they will be able to finalise the design, as the design must take the soil conditions into account," he told reporters during MRT Corp's Hari Raya open house at The Top here this afternoon.
Present was Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow.
Zarif said that once the finalisation is done, the next step would be to determine whether the location has utilities that need to be relocated.
As is known, he explained, there are utilities running underground next to the road. He mentioned that they would be utilising a large portion of the road reserve.
"So, obviously, some utilities in the road reserve will need to be relocated first. That also needs to be done."
"If you talk about construction activity, you will start to see, for example, six months from now, small machinery going to the site to begin relocating the utilities."
"However, the large-scale construction, such as the viaduct, will start to take shape by the fourth quarter of next year."
"Next year is only 2026, and with the target delivery date set for December 31, 2031, we still have five years to go," he added.
Zarif said it was normal for projects like this to follow an S-curve, with the initial phase being a bit slow.
He explained that after reaching a certain critical mass, progress would pick up, following the S-curve pattern.
"So, projects like this follow an S-curve. It's not like a spike. Therefore, you'll see slow progress at the beginning. I would say the upward slope of the S-curve will start to appear after 2027 or 2028."
"You have to understand the S-curve scenario. That's why I say that by the time we reach 2029, we will be at the top of the S-curve. From there, we'll have another two years until the end of 2031."
"I know there is an expectation from the people of Penang and the state government that this has been a long-drawn project, but we are doing our best to expedite it," he said.
He also said that despite it having only been three months, people could already see substantial progress.
"For us to mobilise the entire machinery of the government and everyone else to achieve what we have today is quite significant.
"I hope that with this kind of momentum, we will continue progressing. And hopefully, we will be able to exceed our own target timeline," he said.
MRT Corp recently assured the public that the Mutiara Line LRT project remains on track and on schedule.
As the asset owner and project developer, MRT Corp said that over the past three months, it had been actively driving the project forward.
On Jan 10, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim officiated the groundbreaking ceremony for the Mutiara Line LRT project, marking the commencement of a transformative new chapter for the state's public transport network.
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