MRT Line 2 likely to cost over RM30 bil

KUALA LUMPUR (May 22): The 52.2km Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Line 2 is likely to cost over RM30 billion, reported The Edge Financial Daily today.

Out of the amount, Mass Rapid Transit Corp Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp) allocated RM4 billion to RM5 billion for private land acquisition, which is not part of Line 2’s estimated construction cost of RM28 billion, compared with the RM23 billion for the MRT Line 1 project.

“The RM28 billion estimation does not include the project delivery partner's cost and consultants' fee. We had to consider the cost of material, manpower and inflation rate, all of which have increased since Line 1 began four or five years ago.

“The length of the tunnel in Line 2 was 13.5km as opposed to 9.5km in Line 1. However, we can only firm up the actual amount after the final alignment for the railway scheme has been approved by the federal government,” said MRT Corp’s CEO Datuk Seri Shahril Mokhtar.

After visiting the MRT Line 2 alignment public inspection booth at Quill City Mall, Shahril revealed that Line 2’s pre-qualifying exercise for the underground construction will be called next week before the proper bidding session begins in the last quarter of this year. Construction works are expected to commence in the second quarter of 2016.

Shahril also said that the cost for the land acquisition was 66.6% more than the RM3 billion allocated for the 51km Line 1 project because Line 2's alignment covers more prime land.

“Unlike Line 1, where the government to private land percentage ratio was 70:30, in Line 2, it was 81:19 but there is more prime land along the alignment,” he said, adding that he hopes that mutual agreements would reduce acquisition cost.

It was previously reported that MRT Corp, which saved RM1.6 billion out of RM3 billion in acquisition deals for Line 1 through mutual agreements with landowners, hopes to repeat the feat with Line 2.