COMMENT | Why is Penang govt obsessed with LRT?

COMMENT | Finally, with funding from the federal government, a tender will soon be called to bid for the first Penang LRT project which was proposed and pushed by the SRS consortium that will also reclaim the Silicon Island south of Penang Island.

It should be pointed out that the Penang Transport Master Plan formulated by Halcrow and approved by the Penang government in 2013 did not recommend LRT as a mode of public transport. What was recommended were trams and buses that were more flexible and economical.

Recently we witnessed discussions over the merits and demerits of LRT against other much cheaper systems currently available such as the hydrogen-powered autonomous rail transit (ART) that is currently implemented in Kuching, Sarawak.

Here, I would like to raise the fundamental question - why is the Penang government obstinately sticking to the LRT as the preferred mode of public transport? A bit of history is in order.