Govt paid for ERL extension to klia2 to keep lid on train fare

by **Cals** Thu 12 Jun 2014, 02:52

Business & Markets 2014

Written by Cynthia Blemin of theedgemalaysia.com

Wednesday, 11 June 2014 10:13

KUALA LUMPUR: The federal government forked out RM100 million to fund the 2.2km-extension of the Express Rail Link (ERL) from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) to klia2 because it wanted to keep a lid on the fare.
“The [government paid for the] additional cost of RM100 million so that when people board the ERL from Kuala Lumpur to klia2, there is no change in the prices for the ticket [from what they are paying now to go to KLIA],” said Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Abdul Aziz Kaprawi in Parliament yesterday.
Abdul Aziz, who headed the klia2 task force, said this in reply to a question by Bukit Mertajam MP Sim Chee Keong on the breakdown of costs and jobs given out for klia2.
Sim had argued that the government should address the reasons for taking on the RM100 million cost for the ERL extension since the costs for the new terminal had doubled from RM2 billion initially.
The RM100 million, which is borne by the government, came on top of the RM3.96 billion incurred by airport operator, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) to build klia2.
Sim stated that MAHB should incur the RM100 million since it is already paying for the construction of other government assets at klia2.
Earlier, Abdul Aziz noted that out of the RM3.96 billion, a sum of RM582 million was incurred by MAHB to cover the costs for construction of government assets that are involved in the day to day operations of the new terminal.
The breakdown of costs for klia2 that was provided by the ministry to Sim did not list the additional costs of RM100 million that was incurred by the government for the ERL extension.
Out of the RM582 million spent by MAHB, some RM174 million was used to pay for the control tower and its equipment, another RM294 million for the construction of roads meant for public use and the remaining RM114 million as payment to consultants and other costs, said Abdul Aziz.
The deputy minister stated that the bulk of the remaining costs for klia2 of RM3.38 billion included the costs to build the main terminal, runway and infrastructure including other expenses for the “Visual Docking Guidance System” and “Passenger Boarding Bridge”.
Abdul Aziz said the costs for klia2 was the lowest when compared to other airports in the world, noting that the construction cost per pax for klia2 was only at RM89 compared to Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport which was much higher at RM330.

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Filepic of Minister of Urban Welbeing, Housing And Local Government Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan (left) and Acting Minister Of Transport Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein alighting from the ERL at klia2 on April 30.

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Meanwhile, the construction of klia2 which started in 2009 only took four years to complete compared with Suvarnabhumi Airport’s 4.75 years and Hong Kong airport’s six years, he added.
Abdul Aziz also played down the depressions on the runways and taxiways at klia2, stating that the depressions were expected by MAHB.
“To date there has been no major problems and all of the depressions can be fixed within 24 hours. No flights at klia2 had been affected because it only happens in certain areas and did not involve the entire airport,” he added.
klia2 is the country’s first hybrid airport with a capacity to serve up to 45 million passengers annually. However, it was plagued with delays and ballooning costs that continues to draw debates even after it was opened on May 2.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on June 11, 2014.[/size]