GEORGE TOWN, Nov 2 — The Pan Island Link 1 (PIL 1) and the Light Rail Transit (LRT) projects are at "the tail-end of securing the necessary approval”, Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said.

He said that the state government has been working with SRS Consortium to finalise the master agreement for the two major components from the RM46-billion Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP).

"(Once it has been finalised,) project delivery partners can move into the next important phase of work, which is the design of the project, accumulating the tender (in) maybe the second month of next year, then moving on to the construction phase,” he said in his speech for Real Estate & Housing Developers' Association (Rehda) Penang’s 45th anniversary dinner here.

The PIL 1 project is a 19.5km-long toll-free highway alignment from Gurney Drive to Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway near the Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone IV area, consisting of a 7.6-km length of viaduct sections, four tunnel sections totaling 10.1 km in length and embankment sections of 1.8 km.

Meanwhile, the rail line for the LRT project will cover 29.9 kilometres and 27 stations, running from Komtar to the Penang International Airport and to the three future reclaimed islands in the south of Penang, estimated to cost RM8 billion. ― Bernama