MRT projects 160,000 less cars on the road after SBK line fully operational

KUALA LUMPUR: Mass Rapid Transit Corp (MRT Corp) anticipates that with the completion of the MRT Sungai Buloh-Kajang (SBK) Line, it will result in drop of 160,000 cars on the roads in the Klang Valley.
Its Strategic Communications and Stakeholder Relations director Datuk Najmuddin Abdullah said that he was optimistic about the decrease of automobiles coming into the city since the MRT service between Sg Buloh to Kajang, which will be fully operational in July, expected to ferry 400,000 passengers daily.
Najmuddin told Bernama here recently that most of the stations had been strategically positioned at high density housing areas to facilitate the needs of the public to commute into the city.
The areas include Kwasa Damansara, Kota Damansara, Mutiara Damansara, Bandar Utama, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Phileo Damansara, Semantan, Bukit Dukung, Batu Sebelas Cheras, Bandar Tun Hussein Onn, and Taman Suntex.
These areas have never been served by any urban rail service before.
Each train set serving the line will have four cars, allowing a total capacity of 1,200 passengers with a frequency of 3.5 minutes between each train.
As for park-and-ride facilities, there will be a total of 14 multi-storey and open-air carparks with 8,000 bays available at stations along the 51km-long SBK Line.
"This will surely make a significant impact in alleviating the traffic congestion faced today and not just that, the low and middle income commuters can benefit greatly from the MRT SBK Line.
"As they can avoid many kinds of costs such as wear and tear on vehicle, hike in fuel price, toll price, costly hourly parking in the city centre and many more," he told.
Adding that the fares of the MRT SBK Line were affordable at between RM1 and
RM6.40 based on distance travelled.
The RM23 billion MRT SBK line which covers 51 kilometres with 31 stations is part of Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) projects initiated by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak.
Phase 1 of the MRT SBK is expected to be operational from Dec 16, covering 12 stations between Sungai Buloh and Semantan.
Phase 2 of the MRT SBK will cover the remaining 19 stations between Semantan and Kajang and is scheduled for operations next July.
The MRT SBK Line is expected to provide significant benefits to the residents of the Klang Valley including faster travel, improved productivity, enhanced value of properties near stations, as well as improved mobility for everyone. — Bernama