The construction of the Mutiara Line of Penang Light Rail is accelerating. This 29.67 kilometer circular subway line, with a total cost of approximately 16 billion ringgit, equivalent to 3.8 billion US dollars, connects Butterworth on the mainland side with Georgetown on the island, and terminates directly at Penang International Airport. After the completion of the line, it will include a 3-kilometer cross sea elevated bridge, 22 stations, and two train yards. The initial operation interval is 4 minutes, and the one-way hourly capacity can reach 10910 passengers.

At present, the first phase of civil engineering has already been completed. Last year, Gamuda won a civil engineering contract worth 7.9 billion ringgit for the reclamation of silicon islands from Teluk Kumbar to Komtar Centre in George Town. Now it's time for the second phase, and six consortia have submitted their bidding proposals.

Six families grab a piece of cake

The value of the Phase II project package is approximately 4 billion ringgit, covering a 6-kilometer stretch from Buterawan Station to McCarran Street in George Town. Opening the list of six consortia, the presence of Chinese enterprises is extremely strong. Kerjaya Rospek has partnered with SinoHydro and Power China, both subsidiaries of China Electric Power Construction Corporation; Malaysia Resources Company has partnered with China Railway Group Limited; MMC Engineering Company partners with Samsung Construction and an unnamed Chinese company; TRC Synergy's partner is China Communications Construction; YTL Group forms a team with China Railway Group units; WCT Holdings has partnered with Lion Air and China National Construction and Engineering Corporation. Among the six, at least four have Chinese companies deeply involved.

This is not surprising. Chinese contractors are no longer bystanders in Malaysia's large-scale infrastructure projects. The competitiveness of Chinese enterprises in the field of civil engineering, from the East Coast Railway to the Maxin MRT, is evident to all. Although the second phase of Penang Light Rail is only 6 kilometers long, it involves underground construction and station construction in the urban area, and the technical difficulty is not low, which happens to be an area that Chinese companies are good at.

The cross sea light rail in Penang has been waiting for many years

The significance of Mutiara Line to Penang is not just an additional subway. As a world cultural heritage site, traffic congestion has always been a persistent problem in Georgetown. Once the light rail is put into operation, the commuting time from the airport to the city center will be significantly reduced, and the cross sea connection will also make the flow of people between Penang Island and the province of Perak smoother. The project is expected to transport over 10000 people per hour in one direction, which is quite sufficient for a state with a population of less than 2 million. Keywords: light rail projects, infrastructure transportation

The second phase bidding is just the beginning. The remaining contracts for track, electromechanical, and vehicle procurement have not been released yet, and competition will only become more intense in the future. The six consortia have already unveiled their cards, and now it depends on whose proposal is the hardest and whose quotation is the most realistic.Editor/Cheng Liting