Free MRT rides for a month beginning tomorrow

KUALA LUMPUR: Get set for a month of free rides on the MRT and its feeder buses from tomorrow. Beginning tomorrow until January 16, all rides on the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) as well as feeder bus services will be free of charge for the public. This was announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak at the official launch of the MRT Sungai Buloh – Kajang Line (MRT SBK), at the MRT Kwasa Damansara station this afternoon. He said it was a New Year gift for the people, apart from giving them the opportunity to try the new, modern and efficient public transportation facility. Najib said the government had also saved about RM2 billion when the total cost for the MRT SBK project was only RM21 billion, compared to the targeted cost of RM23 billion. At the same time, he said the completion date was never changed throughout the five years of the MRT construction. "It is a project which is on time and below budget," said Najib, who is also the finance minister. Najib said he had made frequent checks at the MRT construction sites and could see the development of the stations, depots and the railway track. "From tomorrow, the train for the first phase will begin transporting passengers between Sungai Buloh and Semantan stations with a total journey of about 30 minutes. "In the next seven months, the second phase will be in operation, completing the whole SBK line and allowing passengers to travel between Sungai Buloh and Kajang stations comfortably," he said adding that the trip between the two station would only take about one hour. The first phase of the SBK line covers 12 stations while the whole line of 51km will include 31 stations in total. Najib said the SBK line would provide a modern, efficient, safe and reliable mode of transportation for about 2 million people along the stretch. Also Present were Nepal's Deputy Prime Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara, Second Finance Minister Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai and Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa, who is also MRT Corp chairman.

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