Government firm on transforming public transport system: PM Najib

The government is taking decisive action to catch up on what was not done or focused on in modernising and transforming Malaysia's public transportation system, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said.

Najib, who is also Finance Minister, said he would continue to give full attention to developing a modern, efficient, reliable and safe transportation system for the people in the Klang Valley and beyond.

"The choking effect of traffic congestion will make the city less ideal to live in and this, in turn, will be less effective to visitors and investors. Other cities in this region are putting efforts to make themselves world class; we cannot afford to lose out," he said when officiating at the Mass Rapid Transit Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya Line ground-breaking ceremony at the MRT worksite near Putrajaya Sentral here today.

"We are taking decisive action to catch up on what was not done previously and remedy the shortcomings of our public transport ecosystem," he said.

The Prime Minister said the 52.2km MRT Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya Line, which has 37 stations, would shorten to 30 minutes the travel time from the government administrative capital of Putrajaya to Kuala Lumpur.

Najib said the MRT SSP Line would have interchanges with existing rail services like KTM Komuter, LRT, Monorail and Express Rail Link and would be integrated with the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail being developed.

"Thus, we will be able to soon provide the facility where we can go to KL in just 30 minutes and to Singapore in only 90 minutes.

"This is the shape of things to come in a modern and future Malaysia, and we will ensure that all such projects are completed on schedule and within budget," he said.

Najib stressed on the importance of the reliability factor in public transportation to keep the level of customer satisfaction at the highest possible.

He congratulated all parties involved in the development of the MRT Sungai Buloh-Kajang Line for being able to deliver the project on time and within the target cost.

An MRT Corp statement said phase one of the MRT SSP Line from Sungai Buloh to Kampung Batu was expected to be operational by the second quarter of 2021, while the line was expected to be fully operational by the second quarter of 2022.

The MRT line will run from Sungai Buloh to Putrajaya through Kepong, Batu, Jalan Ipoh, Titiwangsa, KLCC, Tun Razak Exchange, Bandar Malaysia, Sungai Besi, Serdang, UPM and Cyberjaya.

The line will have 12 interchanges along the route with existing services, as well as an interchange station at Bandar Malaysia South for the high speed rail.

Once operational, the MRT SSP Line is expected to have a daily ridership of 529,000 passengers. -- Bernama