Liow: MRT fare low because of govt support

KUALA LUMPUR: The public is able to enjoy low fares on the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) due to the support by the government, said Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.
Saying the country's MRT fare is among the lowest in the world, the Transport Minister added that this is vital to encourage more people to use public transportation.
"The fare is always competitive. And our MRT fare is low because the government puts in a lot of support to the whole project.
"We want to create a very user-friendly environment to have more people use public transport. We wish to achieve our target of having 40% modal share (of public transportation) by 2020," he told reporters today.
Liow said this after attending the commencement of the underground tunnel construction works for the MRT Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya (SSP) Line by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak at the Bandar Malaysia North station.
This was marked by the launch of its first of 12 tunnel boring machines (TBM) to be used for the project, with its final machine expected to be launched by mid-2019.
Also present for the launch were Chief Secretary to the Government and MRT Corp Sdn Bhd chairman Tan Sri Dr. Ali Hamsa, MRT CEO Datuk Seri Shahril Mokhtar and Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) chairman Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad.
The SSP Line requires 12 TBMs, compared with just the eight for the SBK Line, as it has more underground stations (11 compared with seven) and a longer underground alignment (13.5km to 9.5km).
The first machine launched today is also the first such machine to undergo refurbishment in Malaysia at a facility in Pusing, Perak. It was previously used for the Sungai Buloh-Kajang (SBK) Line.
When completed, the SSP Line will have a total of 35 stations spanning 52.2km - of which 11 stations will be underground - with an estimated daily ridership of 529,000 at maturity.
The line will run through areas such as Kepong, Jalan Ipoh, Titiwangsa, KLCC, Tun Razak Exchange, Bandar Malaysia, Sungai Besi, Serdang and Cyberjaya.
The ground breaking ceremony of the RM32 billion SSP Line was officiated by Najib on Sept 15, 2016.
Meanwhile, Liow said the SSP Line has achieved 22% completion rate and is on schedule to be completed for its July 2022 full launch, with phase one of the line from Sungai Buloh to Kampung Baru expected to be completed a year earlier.