Penang’s Transport Ministry has announced that the construction of the 29 km Penang Light Rail Transit (LRT) Mutiara Line will begin by Q4 of 2024 with an anticipated completion date set for 2030.

The contracts for the LRT project have been segmented into three main components: Silicon Island to Komtar (Segment 1); Komtar to Penang Sentral (Segment 2); and turnkey systems and rolling stocks. Segment 1, covering the route from Silicon Island to Komtar, was awarded to SRS Consortium through the Single-Sourcing Request for Proposal mechanism. Conversely, the remaining two contracts will be tendered openly to both domestic and international firms incorporated in Malaysia.

The decision to award Segment 1 to SRS Consortium was in response to a request from the Penang government, which had previously appointed the firm as the project delivery partner for the Penang Transportation Master Plan, inclusive of the Mutiara Line. This appointment was made through an open tender process in August 2015.