[sustran] Re: monorial in malaysia

Walter Hook whook at itdp.org
Tue Oct 14 23:11:40 JST 2003


interesting.  thanks.  we are working with Jakarta on a bus rapid transit
system, and of course this monorail caused the usual confusion.  i ran into
this malaysian company in Kunming, where they were also proposing an
elevated structure.  It sounds like part of Malaysia's industrial policy to
try and prop up this failed company which they now own.


----- Original Message -----
From: "Craig Townsend" <townsend at central.murdoch.edu.au>
To: "Asia and the Pacific sustainable transport"
<sustran-discuss at list.jca.apc.org>
Sent: Monday, October 13, 2003 11:07 PM
Subject: [sustran] Re: monorial in malaysia


> Walter,
>
> I know a bit about the project, but I would be interested to learn more if
> anyone else could add anything (or if anything I've written is
inaccurate),
> particularly concerning which entity owns and runs the KL monorail, who
> owns the technology, its performance since opening, etc.
>
> In 1982, a Swiss firm was hired by a government-linked Malaysian company
to
> develop a 5 kilometre cableway, an aerial tram running on cables 20 feet
> above the central business and shopping district. In 1983 a Transport
> Planning Committee set up by the Federal Territory Ministry officially
> approved the overhead cable car system which was to be developed by Swiss
> companies, and a technical appraisal of an "Aerobus Pilot Line" was
> produced in the same year. The project didn't progress much further, and
in
> the 1990s a turnkey concession contract was signed between the Malaysian
> government and Hitachi of Japan to build a monorail in the same general
> alignment. The project was under construction when the 1997/8 financial
> crisis hit, and liquidity problems for the project led to government
> assistance and "nationalization" to a Malaysian company run by Vincent
Tan,
> a Chinese Malaysian tycoon with close links to Prime Minister Mahathir.
>
> More recently, the Malaysian government has been seeking new projects at
> home and abroad for transport infrastructure companies, including
companies
> involved with the monorail and the LRTs. Malaysian road
> building/maintenance companies have picked up some contracts in Australia
> and India. The national government has also been pursuing road and bridge
> projects in Penang, where there has been some local opposition to the
> projects. Some government ministers have also suggested that KL-type LRTs
> could be built in Penang, although locals there have been arguing for less
> capital-intensive public transport projects.
>
> Craig
>
>
> At 12:36 PM 13/10/2003 -0400, you wrote:
> >does anyone have the low down on this monorail project in Kuala Lumpur?
The
> >company, Mtrans Holding, has tied up with some indonesian companies and
is
> >promising to invest $400 million into a monorail in Jakarta.  Mtrans
Holding
> >seems to be the manufacturer of the rolling stock.  i assume they are
> >insulated from the financial consequences of a bankrupcy in the
operations.
> >does anyone understand the mechanism for this?
> >
> >walter hook
>
>



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