This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on March 16, 2026 - March 22, 2026

MRT Corp has again extended the deadline for a decision on the systems package of the Penang Light Rail Transit (LRT) project.

According to sources, MRT Corp has sent a notice to tenderers of the systems package, estimated to be valued at about RM3 billion, to say that the tender bonds, which expire on March 31, will continue to be valid until end-June.

Following this decision, tenderers must ensure that the tender bonds they submitted with their proposals last year are enforceable until end-June. The tender for the systems package closed last June.

According to insiders, intense lobbying for the job has led to a delay in the final decision.

“The deadline for a final decision on the winner of the systems project has moved several times. Last year, tenderers were made to understand that a decision was expected in the third week of January. But until now, there is no decision yet,” a source tells The Edge.

Sources say the MRT Corp board made its recommendations to the Ministry of Finance in early January.

“However, there has been no decision yet due to intense lobbying. The Penang LRT is about the only railway job that has come up for grabs in the last few years, and every company that is without a job is looking at it,” says a source.

Word has it that one group is lobbying the Ministry of Transport, headed by Anthony Loke, while another group has been courting the Ministry of Finance, headed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Although MRT Corp has already made its recommendations, the final dash in the award of the project may see political influence.

“If not for the strong political lobby, a decision would have been made by now,” says a source.

The Penang LRT is the biggest infrastructure project undertaken by the Anwar administration. It stretches from Silicon Island near Bayan Lepas Industrial Zone to Penang Sentral in Butterworth. At almost 30km in length, it is expected to be a major transport link for ferrying workers from the mainland to the Bayan Lepas industrial hub.

Its construction cost is estimated to be between RM13 billion and RM16 billion, with work divided into three packages. SRS Consortium, led by Gamuda Bhd (KL:GAMUDA), has been awarded the RM7.9 billion civil construction package on the island.

The remaining contracts are the systems package and a 5km across the sea connection from Penang island to Butterworth.

The tender for the systems package, which comprises the rolling stock, signalling systems and track works, was initially slated to be closed in April last year, with a final decision to be made in four months. However, it only closed in June after MRT Corp issued more than 15 addendums to the tender requirements.

Last September, there was another addendum — to reduce the specifications from four-car train sets to three-car train sets. This is to give MRT Corp more options in deciding on the size of the train sets should passenger load be low in the early years.

Seven companies tendered for the job but sources say only four are still in the running. They are Gamuda, MMC Group, YTL Group and a joint venture between Lion Pacific Sdn Bhd and WCT Holdings Bhd (KL:WCT), which submitted the lowest price.

Gamuda is partnering with China Railway Rolling Stock Corp (CRRC) and a signalling company from China. YTL and the WCT JV are using Siemens for signalling and CRRC for the rolling stock.

MMC Group, owned by Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary, is the only contender not using any Chinese companies in its proposal. Instead, it has partnered with Hitachi from Japan for signalling systems and Hyundai Rotem for rolling stock.

It is said that Syed Mokhtar himself has taken a keen interest in the project.

“This is because the current urban railway jobs were all awarded prior to the change in government in 2018. He feels that the Penang LRT is the first job under the current government and there is room for the government to look at technologies other than those from China companies,” says a source.

China companies are heavily involved in current urban railway jobs as well as previous ones. Among the ongoing projects are the Rapid Transit System (RTS) between Johor Bahru and Woodlands in Singapore and the LRT3 line between Bandar Utama and Klang.

The RTS is expected to be completed by year-end and operational early next year after systems testing. CRRC is providing the rolling stock.

LRT3, for which Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (KL:MRCB) is the turnkey contractor, was scheduled to be up and running last July but was delayed due to technical problems. The operational date was pushed to December 2025 and now to June this year.

The groundbreaking for LRT3 was done in 2016 under the Barisan Nasional government when Datuk Seri Najib Razak was prime minister. Loke said in parliament that the delays were as a result of technical issues identified during the testing and commissioning phase.

For LRT3, Siemens is the provider of the signalling systems while the rolling stock is supplied by CRRC.

As Gamuda has already secured one package in the Penang LRT project, the systems package is likely to go to one of the three remaining contenders.

“That is unless the political lobbying is so strong that the systems package is given to a contender that is not one of the last four shortlisted. But that is an unlikely scenario,” says an industry executive. 

Save by subscribing to us for your print and/or digital copy.

P/S: The Edge is also available on Apple's App Store and Android's Google Play.