The MRT3 Circle Line Project was introduced to the members of media, consultants, industry players and other stakeholders in a session organised by Malaysia Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp) on 13 April 2021.

The session, entitled “Insights: MRT3 Circle Line”, was held at the Platform Performing Arts Theatre, Kuala Lumpur to convey the overall plan and vision of the MRT3 Circle Line Project.

MRT Corp Chief Executive Officer Datuk Mohd Zarif Hashim hosted the session where he began with introducing the Project as different from any previous construction projects as it will combined with socio-economic programmes and act as the catalyst to transform the economy of the country.

He shared attributes of the MRT3 alignment which do not only distribute passengers along the Klang Valley but also transport goods to support the supply chain.

MRT Corp will join forces with the industry players such as property developers and the relevant ministries and government agencies to develop and implement programmes to uplift the economy for the benefit of the rakyat, he added.

One of the examples of this programme that Datuk Mohd Zarif explained was the building of affordable homes through Transit Oriented Development (TOD) and urban revival and regeneration.

“The optimal time for the completion of the Project is 10 years, which will be done in phases where each phase will have interconnecting stations with the existing rail lines”, Datuk Mohd Zarif said about the construction period of the Project.

He presented on what economic development that MRT3 can bring, such as a distributed supply chain, development of local suppliers, technology and enterprises.

He added that the MRT3 Project also hoped to achieve one of the national objectives which is to reduce the dependency on foreign workers. The objective will be achieved through changing construction methods by moving towards construction manufacturing and Industrialised Building System (IBS) as well as Building Information Modelling (BIM).

These approaches will also develop highly skilled locals this creating export markets and help local industry development, he said.

Datuk Mohd Zarif said on the railway front, establishing a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) centre will also help Malaysia to become a regional centre in this area.

Datuk Mohd Zarif then spent more than an hour answering questions from the floor where he took the opportunity to elaborate further the points that he had presented earlier.