PUTRAJAYA, Aug 2 — Transport Minister Anthony Loke today announced that the Cabinet has approved the ministry’s proposal to redevelop the Kuala Lumpur Sentral Station (KL Sentral).

He said this is to cater to the increasing number of commuters and traffic volume at the city’s main public transportation hub.

"The current capacity of KL Sentral is about 100,000 but the volume of daily commuters has reached 200,000, and it is packed. We feel like it is not sufficient, and a redevelopment is needed.

"The redevelopment of the station will not have any financial implications for the government and the cost will be fully borne by the developer, Malaysian Resources Corporation Berhad (MRCB).

"The redevelopment will also not impact public transportation operations such as the Light Rail Transit (LRT), KTM and Electric Train Service (ETS) as the operations will continue to run,” he said during a press conference at the Transport Ministry’s building here.

Loke said the project will cost more than RM1 billion and MRCB will have the right to build commercial spaces above the station such as condominiums.

He stressed that KL Sentral is the most important hub in Malaysia as the station connects commuters with the main public transportation mode.

"KL Sentral is the main station to ride the KLIA Express train and to go to the airport. It is also a main station for LRT, KTM and ETS. Hence, it is the most important station in Malaysia,” he said.