Penang Monorail

The Penang Monorail is a proposed monorail line to be constructed under the Ninth Malaysia Plan and Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER).The tender for the Project has been closed since 16 November 2007. Some of the contenders for the project were Melewar Industrial Group Bhd (MIG) and Putera Capital Bhd .On 10 January 2008, the government announced the winner of the tender, which is a consortium led by Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd. (MRCB). The members of the consortium includes Scomi Engineering Bhd and Penang Port Commission. According to The Edge, Malaysian Resources Corporation will build the monorail infrastructure, while Scomi Engineering will provide consultant expertise in building the infrastructure and Penang Port Commission have the land on to which the main hub will operate. The tender cost is expected to be at RM1.6 billion. However after losing the state in last general election the monorail project was scrapped by the federal government. The reason given was to relocate resources to cushion the impact of the increase in global oil prices and focus on people centred projects. However we Malaysian knew what is the REAL REASON and yet that is not the issue here in this entry.Back to our story ,on April 2008, Melawar Industrial Group proposed to the state government, RM 2.2 billion railway solution which operate on a single line and run on three different loops from locations like Gelugor, Farlim in Air Itam and Gurney Drive into the city. The system will feature steel structures and will run near the state's heritage buildings. In response, the state government said it will consider such proposal and may carry out the project by themselves instead of waiting for the federal government. The names of all the stations on the monorail are still mostly unknown, though the main stops are known. The Red Line will run between Tanjung Tokong and the Bayan Lepas International Airport, via Scotland Road, Jalan Air Itam and the Penang State Mosque. The Green Line will run between Paya Terubong and Weld Quay Terminal, via Jalan Air Itam, Jalan Dato' Keramat, and Komtar. The interchange will be at Jalan Air Itam.