Penang To Learn From Japan and Hong Kong On Public Transport

Chow-Kon-Yeow-GEORGE TOWN: Penang will tap into Japanese expertise to manage its future mass transit infrastructure, state executive councillor Chow Kon Yeow said.

Chow said private Japanese rail companies were highly profitable as they ran a sustainable operations regime, which Penang hoped to emulate closely.

“A major reason for the success of Tokyo’s private rail lines is because they diversified their businesses beyond transportation into real estate holdings and retail outlets.

“Rather than relying strictly on farebox revenue and ads, the transit system in Penang should also develop other revenue sources, just as the Japanese private railways have done successfully.

“For this reason, we will look to Japan for its sustainable operations regime for mass transit infrastructure,” he said in a briefing on Penang’s Transport Master Plan (PTMP) to some 50 reps of Japanese companies operating in the state.

Also present were Embassy of Japan in Malaysia Deputy Chief of Mission and Minister Yoshinori Kodama and Japan Consul-General to Penang, Kiyoshi Itoi. They were accompanied by Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

Penang plans to build its own Light Rail Transport (LRT) and other modes of public transport via PTMP.

The RM27 billion project will be financed by creating three artificial islands south of Penang Island.

The PMTP includes a 5-in-1 transport solution encompassing an undersea tunnel; a cable car service across the channel; ferries and water-taxis; light rail transit and monorail; including buses, taxis and highways.

Earlier, 48 representatives from 31 Japanese companies based in Penang participated in the seminar on PTMP. It was hosted by PTMP’s project delivery partner, SRS Consortium.

GEORGE TOWN, June 13 — Penang hopes to secure a conditional approval for its first railway scheme connecting Bayan Lepas to Komtar by next month, state executive councillor Chow Kon Yeow said.

The local government committee chairman said SRS Consortium, the project delivery partner (PDP) for the Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP), met with Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) last week.

“The meeting went well and seemed favourable,” he told reporters after a PTMP briefing with Japanese delegates at Komtar this morning.

Chow added that a July approval for the proposed Bayan Lepas Light Rail Transit (LRT) would allow the state to proceed with a three-month public inspection beginning August, to allow public feedback.

The Bayan Lepas LRT project, along with the pan island highway link and the reclamation of two islands off southern Penang, are part of the first phase of the PTMP implementation.

Chow also said that once SPAD grants the approval, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) will be set up to administer the implementation of these projects.


The SPV will be a government entity that that will also be tasked with facilitating city planning, development, promotion and management of the Penang South Reclamation (PSR) project, he said.

Chow added that the state hopes to commence construction on the Bayan Lepas line - the first phase of the LRT project - by next year. Operations for the first phase should begin by 2023 while the full line should be operational by 2030, he said.

Earlier, during a question and answer session, SRS Consortium business development senior manager Andrew Chan said it will take up to three years before they could have land to sell under the PSR to fund the PTMP.

He said they can proceed with construction of the LRT and highway project first but would still need to time it with the sale of lands from the reclamation.

“We will depend on bridging financing first to fund the reclamation and construction of the LRT and after the third year, we will have lands to sell to fund the project,” he said.

When asked about sustainability of the future transport assets, Chow said the transport system will not rely strictly on farebox revenue and advertisements.

“We are looking at property development to generate another revenue source to sustain the transport assets, like in Japan and Hong Kong. I think Hong Kong’s MTR is known more as a property developer than as the LRT operator,” he said.

Source: The Malay Mail