The LRT3 Shah Alam Line is expected to finally become operational in June. This was revealed by Transport Minister Anthony Loke during an interview on a radio program earlier today. He added that while Prasarana had set the conservative timeline for June, he expressed confidence that the line could be completed as early as April as The star reports.
The railway line was originally due to open on September 30 last year, but in August it was announced that the project had been delayed. In November, the government was set to stick to its December 31 target for the line’s launch, but then announced in December that operations would not begin until 2025. The delay was due to outstanding system stability and software issues identified during the testing and commissioning phase.
Loke said the delay from the original timeline was necessary to ensure passenger safety through rigorous testing. He explained that the Fault Free Run (FFR), where the primary train has to cover a minimum of 4,000 km without a single technical glitch, had to be completed without any faults.
During this phase, the 22 trainsets, together with their supporting systems, must be able to integrate and function continuously and reliably, as expected from a driverless train system of the Grade of Automation 4 standard.
“Unfortunately, we encountered software and signaling issues during testing in November and December,” he said. He added that every time an error occurs, the test should be reset, regardless of how many kilometers have already been traveled.
The FFR on the first batch of six trains is currently 99% complete, the second batch of eight trains is 82% complete and the third batch of eight trains is yet to commence. All three FFR phases are expected to be completed on January 30, February 2 and February 28 respectively. Once the last test runs have been completed at the end of February, the ministry will start work.
The line covers 37.8 km and has 25 stations from Bandar Utama to Johan Setia, with interchanges at Bandar Utama (Kajang MRT) and Glenmarie (Kelana Jaya LRT). When the railway line becomes operational, it is expected to benefit more than two million residents in the Western Corridor of the Klang Valley.
The project was initially designed with 26 stations and was launched in 2016. In 2018, the Pakatan Harapan government suspended construction of five stations and canceled one, bringing the total cost down to RM16.63 billion.
However, in Budget 2024, Prime Minister and Finance Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced that the five railway stations – Tropicana (formerly Lien Hoe), Temasya, Raja Muda (Sirim), Bukit Raja and Bandar Botanik – would be rehabilitated at a cost of RM5.3 billion.
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