BUTTERWORTH: After more than a decade of delay, Penang Sentral, the integrated hub for bus, rail and sea transportation services in Penang, is expected to be fully operational by the end of the year.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, in announcing this during a visit to Penang Sentral today, said this was another step forward for public transportation in the country.
“Penang Sentral is an integral part of this seamless connectivity between the bus, rail and ferry...but this story doesn’t end here.
“The Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd (MRCB) has major plans for Penang Sentral in its future phases of development, which is expected to complete in 2030 and beyond, depending on the market demand,” he said.
MRCB is the holding company of Penang Sentral Sdn Bhd.
Touted as the gateway to northern Malaysia, the Penang Sentral project was announced by the then prime minister Tun Abdullah Abdullah Badawi back in 2007.
Since its launch, the Penang Sentral project has suffered repeated delays with land acquisition became the main stumbling block.
As a result, construction of Phase 1 of Penang Sentral only began in earnest in 2015.
Elaborating, Chow said the opening of the Penang Sentral would usher in a new era for better facility for public transportation in Penang and the northern region.
Chow said the ferry and rail services needed to be improved next.
“There are already talks about introducing catamarans to supplement the ferry services.
“This is an important step in revamping the ferry services, and we hope the Federal Government will take the lead,” he said, adding that the location for the catamaran had already been identified in Penang Sentral.
As for the rail services, Chow said its frequency needed to be improved further.
“This will definitely make travel in the northern region by public transportation easily more accessible,” he added.
Meanwhile, Chow said the Penang SkyCab, a cable car system traversing the channel between the island and the mainland, would also proceed as plan.
He said he was brief on the matter last week, and was told that the project’s environment impact assessment (EIA) had received approval.
“The project is not shelved...it is very active.
“MRCB will continue to fine tune the alignment and the point of landing may need some adjustment. They are also studying the elements of heritage,” he noted, stressing that several locations have been proposed, including one right at the existing ferry terminal.
For the light rail transit (LRT) between the island and mainland, Chow said Penang Sentral too would be one of the main stations.
“Indeed, many things are planned for Penang to elevate its public transportation and we hope the Federal government will seriously look into all this.”
The Penang Sentral project, undertaken by Penang Sentral Sdn Bhd, is located on 22.65 acres of land, and the recently completed integrated hub for bus, rail and sea transportation services costs about RM230 million.
Its chief operating officer Shireen Iqbal said there are a total of seven phases with the gross development value for the whole project estimated at RM2.8 billion.
The five-storey terminal is expected to handle 2,000 to 3,000 passengers per day, and once it is fully integrated, it can handle between 3,000 and 4,000 passengers daily.
The terminal consists of a four-storey car park space, 38 bays for buses and also 55 retail shops.
In a related development, Chow said the Penang Sentral was also a good site to place the Urban Transformation Centre (UTC).
He added that the authorities have identified the old MPSP building opposite Penang Sentral for UTC.
“I don’t have any updated information on that but this place will be suitable for the UTC,” he noted, adding that he would leave it to the authority to decide on the exact location of the UTC.