KUALA LUMPUR, March 15 — Transport Minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong says acquiring the land needed to start construction on the Mass Rapid Transit 3 (MRT3) project is their top priority.

The project estimated to cost around RM31 billion, not including the land acquisition costs, is expected to be done by 2030 with partial operational status by 2028.

The train line will go through the densest areas in the Klang Valley intersecting with existing rail networks including MRT1, MRT2, Light Rail Transit (LRT), monorail and KTM Komuter to form 10 new interchange stations so that the public transport network in the Klang Valley is more comprehensive.

During a press conference to announce details of the project, Wee said they expected costs to be high as most of the train track would be going through dense and populated areas.

"When talking about land acquisition particularly in Kuala Lumpur it is not cheap. The construction cost is about RM31 billion and we have set aside some money for the land acquisition and are expecting around RM8.4 billion for the cost for land acquisition.

"So we need this to commence our construction hence this is the most critical acquisition at this moment,” he said.

Mass Rapid Transit Corporation CEO Datuk Mohd Zarif Hashim delivers his speech during the press conference on MRT 3 circle line project in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur March 15, 2022. — Picture by Shafwan Zaidon

The MRT3 line is a proposed 50.8km line of which 40.1km will be elevated and 10.7km underground.

It will traverse 31 stations (24 elevated, seven underground) with park and ride facilities at 15 stations.

Also in attendance during the press conference were Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) chief operations officer Mohd Zain Mat Taha, Malaysia Rail Link (MRL) CEO Datuk Seri Darwis Abdul Razak and Prasarana Malaysia Berhad CEO Azharuddin Mat Sah.

They said they hoped 40 per cent of Malaysians would be using the facilities by 2030.

In addition, Wee said the project will be open for tender in May and was confirmed by Zarif.

"If we look back, we didn’t have lots of opportunities to talk about such a big project and it being an open tender exercise. This, as far as I can remember, comes from a government serious in wanting to do things in a different manner and for that we have to be very thankful,” said Zarif.