KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 23 — The Light Rail Transit 3 (LRT3) service, which connects Shah Alam and surrounding areas, is expected to begin operations before June this year, after all testing processes, commissioning, and the resolution of technical issues are completed within the next one to two months.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke said that, to date, two train sets, involving 14 of the 22 trains, have completed fault-free run (FFR) testing, while another set, comprising eight trains, is still undergoing the 22-day FFR testing process.

“As of yesterday, there are still several technical issues which need to be resolved, and after all FFR tests are conducted on all these trains, the next process will be testing and commissioning by the Land Public Transport Agency (APAD).

“All of this is expected to be completed within the next one to two months. Therefore, the new schedule set as the target is March this year,” he said during a question-and-answer session at the Dewan Negara, today.

He was replying to a supplementary question from Senator Mohd Hasbie Muda, regarding assurances that the project’s new completion date can be met after several delays.

Loke said that, at the same time, Prasarana Malaysia Berhad is expediting the completion of the project and all related tests, so that the line can be opened earlier than June.

In a related development, he denied that delays in the commencement of LRT3 operations were linked to the project’s cost rationalisation measures, saying instead that they were due to technical issues which arose during the system testing phase.

“What is happening now involves technical issues, not cost-cutting issues. The earlier cost-reduction measures had already taken into account various factors, including the project implementation mechanism.

“At that time, some stations were reduced to save costs. However, what is happening now has no direct connection to the cost rationalisation decisions or the project implementation method made in 2018,” he said.

He was responding to a supplementary question from Datuk Rosni Sohar, who sought clarification on whether cost reductions and changes in project scope had contributed to the delays in the project. — Bernama