Kuala Lumpur, Thursday:- Syarikat Prasarana Negara Berhad (Prasarana) has obtained sectional approval of the Final Railway Scheme from the Department of Railways for construction of the LRT Extension for both the Kelana Jaya (KLJ) and the Ampang (AMG) Line, on 4 June 2010.

The approval for the KLJ Line covers a distance of 12.0 km, from Kelana Jaya Station to Station 10 (USJ Subang) while for the AMG Line the approval covers a distance of 15.2 km from Sri Petaling Station to Station 11 (Taman Puchong Prima).

However, the first phase of the construction works for the KLJ Line will be from Kelana Jaya Station to Station 7 (USJ, Subang) covering a distance of 9.2 km while for the AMG Line the works will be from Sri Petaling Station to Station 5 (Kinrara 3) covering a distance of 7.4 km.

The construction process of the LRT extension is categorized as Advance Works, Facilities Works and System Works.

The Advance Works involves the relocation of telecommunication cables, TNB low voltage (underground) cables, TNB High voltage transmission lines, water mains and sewerage pipes and gas pipeline works.

The Letters of Acceptance have been issued to four successful contractors (two for each line) for the low voltage TNB cable and telecommunication relocation works package. The work is scheduled to commence in July 2010.

The pre-bid briefing for another two packages, which is the relocation of gas pipeline, water and sewer services, was held on 16 June 2010.

The Facilities Works involves the construction of the infrastructure components such as the guideway, piers and stations and the casting and delivery of segmental box girders for both lines.

There are two main contracts (Packages A and B) and more than 20 nominated sub-contract packages for each line.

A pre-bid briefing was held with the pre-qualified contractors, as listed on the Prasarana website, for Package A, on 22 June 2010. A site visit will be held on 27 June 2010.

Tenders for Package B and other nominated subcontract packages such as for the stations, escalators and lifts, supply of guideway parapets and multi-storey car parks for Park & Ride (PKK ‘A’ Bumiputra only) will be called at a later date.

The System Works category comprises two packages, the Engineering, Procurement and Contruction (EPC) systems works and signaling work for the KLJ Line and the Rolling Stock and EPC system works for the AMG Line.

The tender for the System Works category, which is for the EPC and Rolling Stock packages, is expected to be advertised in September 2010.

The financing of the project will be from Islamic bonds guaranteed by the Government. In September 2009, Prasarana successfully launched a RM4.0 billion bond programme of which RM2.0 billion was raised to part finance the line extension project. The balance of RM2.0 billion will be raised as the project progresses.