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Saturday February 4, 2012

Locations of two more mass rapid transit lines identified

By SHARIDAN M.ALI
sharidan@thestar.com.my


UNDER the Greater KL/ Klang Valley Land Public Transport Master Plan draft, the Government has generally identified the locations of the other two mass rapid transit (MRT2) lines.

The Greater KL/Klang Valley Region is identified as the critical economic growth centre as it generates over 37% of the nation's gross domestic product.

The region comprises Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Klang, Kajang, Subang Jaya, Selayang, Shah Alam, Ampang Jaya and Sepang.

According to MRT Co, line two, the circle line (MRT 2) and line three (MRT 3) should be completed by 2020.

In the master plan draft, MRT 2 would cater for orbital movements around Kuala Lumpur, provide linkages to major developments identified in the DBKL City Plan such as Matrade and reach existing areas that were currently poorly served.

“Orbital movements in KL would be addressed by the provision of a circle line as MRT 2.

“This would link existing areas such as the Mid Valley, Mont Kiara, Sentul Timur and Ampang, as well as proposed developments such as Matrade.

“The circle line would encourage modal transfers in corridors that are currently poorly served by public transport as well as providing relief to the radial lines for those direct orbital journeys which have to travel via the city centre,” it said.

It was proposed that the MRT 2 makes use of the Ampang Branch of the Ampang Line to allow a higher frequency service to be provided on the main Star line towards Sri Petaling.

The master plan draft says the circle line would be developed in at least two phases.

The first would be the western and southern sections linking Ampang with Mid Valley, Matrade and Sentul. The second phase would line Ampang with Sentul Timur, completing the north eastern sector of the circle line.

An initial estimate suggests a length of 29km for phase one with 22 stations. The second phase would be 12km with eight stations.

Meanwhile, the master plan says MRT 3 or the north-south (NS) line would cater for north-west corridor of Greater Klang Valley which was forecast to be overloaded in the future.

“In the northern corridor, even allowing for the upgrade of KTMB, future travel demands indicate that there will be a need to provide enhanced capacity.

“For this reason, a new NS line is proposed to link developing areas such as Sungai Buloh, Kepong and Selayang with the eastern half of the city centre (including Kampung Baru and Kuala Lumpur International Financial District).

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