ELECTRIFIED DOUBLE-TRACKING PROJECT of Malaysian Railway

[TYW]

Originally posted by szehoong

yes...the Penang monorail should connect to the train station at Seberang Perai........Such a pain to get to the island at the train station!

I was hoping they have 3 phases for the Penang monorail.......one is the island monorail....secondly - the crossing over to mainland and third......the Butterworth monorail......

If they decide to built all in one shot lagi better!

Separating into 3 phases ( all 3 phases can also be built at one time mar! ) would streamline the monorail operations. For instance - the sea-crossing monorail could go faster at 90kmph for instance, faster than the ususal 50-60kmph regular speed.

yeah, agree. i think Pablo told me that there will also be moorail in Butterworth?? (not sure lah, maybe i made it up in dreams)

[Pablo]

Originally posted by TYW

yeah, agree. i think Pablo told me that there will also be moorail in Butterworth?? (not sure lah, maybe i made it up in dreams)

huh..i told u Butterworth will have monorail meh???? i think 1 told u they will link the monorail to Butterworth...but some newspaper didn't mention they will connect the monorail to Butterworth, don't know it is truth or not??

Great design for Ipoh station renovation.

Did any of u guys have any rendering for the new JB central station

[Blabbyboy]

A worthy and impressive project! Ipoh Station revamp looks good!

[TYW]

Originally posted by Pablo

huh..i told u Butterworth will have monorail meh???? i think 1 told u they will link the monorail to Butterworth...but some newspaper didn't mention they will connect the monorail to Butterworth, don't know it is truth or not??

then, it must be my dream

[Pablo]

Originally posted by TYW

then, it must be my dream

not only yr dream...my dream too ,.....but when they complete the project i old liaoloh...

[TYW]

Originally posted by Pablo

not only yr dream...my dream too ,.....but when they complete the project i old liaoloh...

same as me, i'll probably be dead

[ethan]

Originally posted by TYW
same as me, i'll probably be dead

wah....don't be soo sad

[TYW]

Originally posted by ethan

wah....don't be soo sad

sad lah, dun get to c and use mah

[szehoong]

MMC-Gamuda wins RM14.5b job


BY WONG SULONG AND JAGDEV SINGH SIDHU



GAMUDA Bhd and Malaysia Mining Corp Bhd (MMC) have received a letter of award from the Government for the electrified double-tracking rail project worth RM14.448bil. The project is the biggest construction job ever awarded in Malaysia.

The 50:50 MMC-Gamuda joint venture, which has been appointed main contractor for the infrastructure component and lead contractor for the entire project, plans to complete the project within four years: three years for infrastructure works and one additional year for systems works, Gamuda said in a statement to the KLSE yesterday.

The work is to build railway tracks between Ipoh and Padang Besar, and between Seremban and Johor Baru.

The front runners for the project's northern section - Ircon International Ltd and DRB-Hicom/Emrail – and southern portion – China Railway and Engineering Corp and DRB-HICOM Hikmat Asia – would be given the right of first refusal to be appointed sub-contractors for the civil works. The Government would, however, determine the division of such work.


“Our proposal fully complied with the Government's Statement of Needs for the project,'' Gamuda managing director Datuk Lin Yun Ling said in an exclusive interview with StarBiz.

“If the government does not change its Statement of Needs, the RM14.5bil price cannot change.''

Lin said RM4bil of the RM14.5bil was for system works and about RM10bil was for civil works, an area where Gamuda is an expert.

About 80% of the civil job cost is for earthworks, soil improvement, tunnels and bridges. Almost 300 bridges would be built in the project.

The government also wants the railway tracks to carry a train every hour and 100,000 passengers per day. Furthermore, trains should be able to travel at 160kph.

MMC-Gamuda must give the government RM772.4mil as a performance bond. Gamuda would fund its share of expenses in the performance of the contract through internally generated funds and bank borrowings.

Although the government had awarded the project to the MMC-Gamuda consortium, Lin acknowledged that the front runners still had a shot of building the railway lines as sub-contractors.

“If they match our price, we will then be out of a job,'' he said.

Lin expects the negotiations for the sub-contracting work would be completed within the next two weeks. The likelihood of the sub-contractors meeting MMC-Gamuda's price is, however, slim given that their final proposal was RM19.7bil, and the price they must propose to the MMC-Gamuda consortium as sub-contractors should be lower than RM14.5bil.

Another factor that could have influenced the government decision in awarding the double-tracking project to MMC-Gamuda was their parallel proposal to privatise KTM Bhd as it was an important cog in the concept of an integrated rail network to improve Malaysia's competitiveness.

Lin said although the proposal to privatise KTM was not contingent on MMC-Gamuda winning the double tracking contract, it fit into the consortium's bigger plans in revamping the country's entire railway network.

“What we offered the government was the best of both worlds. We plan to plough back the profit from constructing the railway tracks into KTM as an investment,'' he said.

[szehoong]

[szehoong]

KTM revamp important to consortium


THE MMC-Gamuda consortium, which plans to inject up to RM1bil in working capital into KTM Bhd, knows it would be tough to turn around the national railway company but believes it can be done with an integrated rail-sea-air network.

“We want to take the bull by the horns,'' said Gamuda Bhd managing director Datuk Lin Yun Ling.

The proposed privatisation would entail the government taking back RM800mil of debt and the consortium leasing the railway assets from the government for a nominal sum.

In addition, the government would foot the bill for the first batch of rolling stock needed for KTM to operate a new electrified double track running along the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. “But overall, we will eventually spend more (on rolling stock),'' said Lin.

Taking over KTM means that Malaysia Mining Corp Bhd (MMC) and Gamuda would have a major business division in the future. And to turn around the company, the consortium knows that it needs to change and improve the operations of KTM.

The vision of an integrated logistics network, when realised, would mean that goods shipped out of or into Malaysia could be transported to their destination with just a single bill of lading.

Lin said the same concept could be applied to air passengers, just as in Europe, where travellers could check in their luggage at a train station and pick up their bags on arrival at their destination. “In one or two years after the tracks are commissioned, we can turn KTM around.”

He acknowledged that MMC-Ga- muda would have to upgrade the east coast line as part of its efforts to revitalise the nation's railway network.

But it was the need to turn around KTM quickly that prompted the consortium to set a timeframe of four years to finish the double tracking project instead of the government's original target of five years. “The original target would have meant an additional year of losses for us,'' said Lin.

[baqthier]

Amazing project man! But aiyo no double track to Pahang and still need to go to Melaka by bus
Nevertheless, 300 bridges is WOW!

[baqthier]

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story...826&sec=nation

Stock mart smashes 800 mark


KUALA LUMPUR: The KLSE Composite Index (CI) convincingly broke the psychologically-important 800 level after impressive gains by blue chips such as Malayan Banking Bhd, Telekom Malaysia Bhd and Malaysia International Shipping Corp Bhd.

The 100-company CI jumped 14.8 points to 805.11 at the close with the broader market indicator, Emas Index, adding 3.4 points to 199.63 and the Second Board Index edging up 1.61 to 135.58.

A total of 800.4 million shares valued at RM1.7bil were traded with gainers overwhelming losers by 556 to 267 and 233 counters trading unchanged.

The KLSE, which saw its best performance this year, had also bucked the regional market trend, with the exception of Thailand.

Analysts said the recent consolidation had set the base for the market, thus prompting fund managers to accumulate blue chips, particularly oil and gas and construction counters.

Investors had also rushed to the scene in view of the shorter trading week due to the Deepavali holiday tomorrow.

“The market is coming out of its recent consolidation period with the previous day's market gains giving investors the confidence to come in strongly,” said Mayban Securities head of research Zulkifli Hamzah.

Positive factors such as the Government's decision to issue more covered warrants on selected counters and to award contracts for the massive RM14.5bil double-tracking railway projects to a consortium led by Malaysia Mining Corp Bhd and Gamuda Bhd had also lifted market sentiment.

[szehoong]

The ‘meat’ and ‘bone’ in MMC-Gamuda railway contract



Datuk Lin Yun Ling


Gamuda's MD Lin Yun Ling explains explains why the government decided to build a double-track railway from Johor Baru to Perlis to Business Editor Wong Sulong and Jagdev Singh Sidhu.



STARBIZ: For background, please explain to our readers why the government decided to build a double-track railway from Johor Baru to Perlis.

Lin: The project is part of the trans-Asia rail project linking Singapore and Kunming in south China. In Malaysia, the railways are grossly under-utilised.

In Malaysia, the percentage of passenger traffic serviced by rail is only 0.3% of total passenger traffic while the percentage in other countries is anything between 7% and 32%.

For freight, which is even more important to the economy, the percentage carried by rail in Malaysia is 0.7% while the percentage in other countries is between 7% and 50%.

Malaysia needs to use the railway network to solve its transportation problems. In the longer term, the imbalance between rail and road utilisation is unsustainable.



StarBiz: Why is the MMC-Gamuda consortium interested in taking over a privatised KTM?

Lin: We offer the government a package. You can consider the construction of the double-track railway as the “meat” and the operation of KTM as the “bone” since KTM is a loss-making business. Our competitors submitted a bid for the construction of the double track, but not on KTM.

We submitted a package for both. Of course, if the government wants to give us only the “meat”, we will take the “meat”. But we also told the government we are prepared to take the “bone” as well. We are confident we can turn around the railways.



StarBiz: Why do you think you can turn KTM around when others have failed?

Lin: I think those who ran KTM previously were interested in what they could do with the KTM land. For us, we told the government: “We are not interested in the land. You take back all the land. We want the rail assets and operate the railways. Just leave us alone to do it.”

I'd like to emulate Petronas. It’s a government-owned agency, yet it has performed extremely well. Hassan Merican (Petronas president) says the single most important factor in Petronas' success is minimal government interference in its operations.

We intend to inject up to RM1bil in equity into KTM. We have done the due diligence. Currently, KTM is a sad picture. Each year, KTM has an operating deficit of RM150mil and the government pays them RM50mil to RM70mil a year. So they have what you might call deferred maintenance.

When we go in, the funding gap on this is already about RM400mil. Over the next four years, when double-tracking is going full steam, they will still incur RM150mil to RM180mil in operating deficit.

But we think after double-tracking is completed, we would be able to turn it around. We will plough back the profits from construction of the double track to operate the railways. So there is no leakage of funds. There will be no subsidies.



StarBiz: Why did you take MMC as your partner?

Lin: To turn around KTM, you need a different business model; you need to integrate air, road and rail into a logistics service chain. The European Rail Shuttle allows an airline passenger to check in his baggage at railway stations in 20 cities.

Similarly, imports unloaded at Rotterdam port can be transported by rail to 20 European cities. The service is seamless. We need such a service in Malaysia. This is already happening in many countries, so we would not be doing anything that is out of this world. MMC is working at the Port of Tanjung Pelepas and Senai airport. It makes sense to go together with MMC to develop this air/road/rail logistics service chain.



StarBiz: The MMC-Gamuda consortium came into the picture at a very late stage, whereas the Indians and Chinese have been working on the project for more than two years. Therefore, it’s understandable that they are disappointed they did not win the award. What have you got to say to that?

Lin: It’s true we came in at a late stage. But we submitted a price that was far below our competitors'. We told the government we could build a double-track railway that meets all that was contained in its Statement of Needs (SoN) for RM14.448bil compared with the most recent price of RM19.7bil quoted by our competitors.

The government, in awarding the contract, has its own consultants to examine in details the respective bids and I believe what we offered was comparable to the competitors'. But the Indians and Chinese will still have the first right of refusal to be appointed as sub-contractors.



StarBiz: MMC and Gamuda have never built or operated a railway.

Lin: I told (Prime Minister Datuk Seri) Dr Mahathir (Mohamad) that in the past Gamuda never built houses; we did not build roads; we were not even a contractor. But today we do all these and have built up core competencies in these sectors. Give us a chance. We know we can do it.



StarBiz: It was reported that your bid contained a 30% variation clause that effectively allows you to increase the cost of the project by 30%. Is that true?

Lin: No.



StarBiz: Can you categorically say that there is no such variation clause in the letter of award?

Lin: Yes. Our price of RM14.448bil is the final price. There is no agreement to vary the price unless the government changes its SoN.

[TYW]

great!! when will the west coast be double tracked?

[szehoong]

Originally posted by TYW

great!! when will the west coast be double tracked?

Your mean the EAST coast izzit???

.......I would think so because this whole thread is on the double-tracking of the WEST Coast......

Cock-eyed again ah?

[glenj]

Business Times - 28 Oct 2003


North-South Railway project likely to begin soon

MMC-Gamuda tie-up to negotiate with former rivals

By EDDIE TOH
IN KUALA LUMPUR

GROUNDWORK for the massive railway project, which will make it possible for a train to zip between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore in under three hours by 2007, is likely to begin soon despite snags, company officials said.

Executives of Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary's Malaysia Mining Corporation (MMC) and partner Gamuda, which have bagged the RM14.5 billion (S$6.6 billion) contract, said they will begin negotiations with two former front-runners for the country's biggest infrastructure job.

The 50:50 MMC-Gamuda partnership will carry out their pledge to offer Indian Railway Construction Co (Ircon) and China Railway Engineering Corp (CREC) the right to undertake construction works for two major stretches of the North-South Railway project should they match the Malaysian consortium's bid of RM14.5 billion. Ircon and CREC had earlier submitted a combined bid of RM42 billion but they have since whittled it down to under RM20 billion following the emergence of the Malaysian offer.

Still, it was not good enough. Attracted by the comprehensive solution drawn up by MMC and Gamuda, the government picked the Malaysian partnership despite their lack of experience.

At the same time, the government has abandoned its earlier intention to engage the Indian and Chinese groups to electrify and double track the Ipoh-Padang Besar and Seremban-Johor Baru stretches respectively.

The Malaysian government is not expected to budge despite howls of protest. 'Letters of intent are not binding. I don't think the question of reimbursement (to the Chinese and Indian firms) arises,' said Transport Minister Chan Kong Choy over the weekend. His ministry has awarded a binding contract to MMC and Gamuda.

Another problem was the unexpected threat of a lawsuit to stop work on the North-South Railway project by little-known Keretapi Trans-Asia (KTAB).

Although Gamuda felt there is no legal basis for claims by KTAB, its share price eased 15 sen to RM7.65 yesterday.

According to New Straits Times yesterday, Gamuda said it signed a pre-bid agreement in April 2002 with KTAB subsidiary Keretapi Trans-Asia (M) (KTAM) to undertake contract works for KTAB in the event that KTAB secured the award for the double-tracking project.

According to the report, Gamuda argued that it would undertake the construction work and KTAM would collect a commission from Gamuda based on the agreement.

'The pre-bid agreement does not preclude Gamuda from securing the project by other means or with other parties. We have instructed our lawyers to commence legal action against KTAB,' Gamuda said.

The North-South Railway in Malaysia is part of the US$30 billion 5,500km Trans-Asia Rail Grid between Singapore and Kunming in south China.

[TYW]

Originally posted by szehoong

Your mean the EAST coast izzit???

.......I would think so because this whole thread is on the double-tracking of the WEST Coast......

Cock-eyed again ah?

yeah, i ment east. this time not cocked-eye it is arm dislocation

[nazrey]