By TEH ENG HOCK
enghock@thestar.com.my
KUALA LUMPUR: Commuters switching between the monorail and light
rail transit trains at KL Sentral here will soon be able to do so
without being exposed to the sun or rain.
Transport Minister
Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat said a covered walkway, which will be slightly
more than 150m long, would be ready by July next year.
The
walkway will connect the monorail station which is located on Jalan Tun
Sambanthan with the LRT station within the KL Sentral complex.
At
the moment, commuters transfering between the two services have to
cross Jalan Tun Sambanthan and walk for about 350m to get to the LRT
station.
Shopping link: Ong (right) and Wong looking at the model of Nu Sentral which will be ready in 2012.
Ong
said improving public transport was one of the National Key Result
Areas under the Government Transformation Programme and addressing
commuters’ concerns when transferring from one public transport service
to another was important.
“Monorail commuters switching to the
LRT can clearly see a missing link. You are exposed to the sun or
rain,” he said when visiting the area yesterday.
Ong said the
walkway would be within Nu Sentral, a new shopping mall which was
currently being developed by Malaysian Resources Corporation Berhad.
The mall is expected to be completed in 2012.
“When
Nu Sentral is ready, commuters can walk from the monorail station to
the LRT station and vice-versa by going through the mall,” he said.
Ong
said currently, about 130,000 commuters use KL Sentral daily while its
capacity was 250,000. “There is still room to increase the usage,” he
said.
Ong, who is in a wheelchair following an ankle operation, was briefed by MRCB during the visit.
Although
his right foot is still in a brace, Ong got out of his wheelchair and
took several steps when inspecting the construction.
MRCB senior
vice-president and head of property Wong Dor Loke said the company was
trying to bring forward the completion of the walkway so that it could
be used by commuters sooner.
“Nu Sentral will be ready in 2012
but the walkway will be completed by July 2011. It is a temporary
structure but it will be covered,” he said.
He added that the walkway is estimated to cost RM15mil.
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