Transport minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook revealed during a press conference held earlier today that the Cabinet has approved Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd’s (MRCB) plan to rebuild Kuala Lumpur’s major transport hub, KL Sentral. He added that the project will cost an estimated budget of RM1 billion, which will be wholly borne by the company.
“For us, this is a privatisation project that doesn’t cost the government any money, while we will get a modern station to fulfil the public’s transportation needs,” said Loke. “KL Sentral is one of the most important transport hubs as it is the main station for KLIA Express, LRT and KTM train services.”
The transport minister said there is an urgent need to rebuild the hub, which started operations in 2001, as it is facing serious congestion issues. He added that KL Sentral was only designed to accommodate 100,000 commuters a day, but now records 200,000 daily visitors.
This isn’t the first time the government considered upgrading the hub, as former transport minister Wee Ka Siong had previously mulled a similar plan back in 2021. “We need all stakeholders to work together to ensure that KL Sentral continues to be a potential location for the benefit of the people and the country,” he said through a Facebook post. “It is also to meet current needs and ensure that it remains a catalyst for transport-based development that drives local community economic activity.”
On top of increasing its overall capacity, Loke revealed that the rebuild of KL’s major transport hub by MRCB will see improvements in security aspects as well by replacing the analogue CCTV system with AI-based ones instead, which are capable of tracking human movements. Furthermore, the minister added that the company will also be given the right to set up commercial units at the building in return for bearing the construction costs.
The rebuild of KL Sentral is expected to take place in one to two years’ time, and Loke is assuring that both the hub and its various public transport services will remain operational during the reconstruction. He also notes that the ministry is in discussion with the public-private partnership unit (Ukas) at the Prime Minister’s Department regarding the project, with discussions set to be finalised within a year.
(Source: FMT)
