Johor Elevated Autonomous Rapid Transit (E-ART) project – Governance, Transparency and Politics…

A request for proposal (RFP) briefing was held in March 2025 and subsequently, three consortia submitted proposals in June 2025 for a project complementing the Rapid Transit System (RTS).

In May 2026, the Public-Private Partnership Unit (UKAS) issued a Letter of Intent (LOI) to a consortium comprising DOM Industries (M) Sdn Bhd, MMC Engineering Sdn Bhd, BTS Group Holdings PCL, and Nylex Malaysia. In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, Nylex said the government has granted approval in principle to undertake the project that will be based on a medium-capacity rail system under a public-private partnership (PPP) model.

In parliament recently, the transport minister said the federal government will provide funding to finance the Elevated Autonomous Rapid Transit (E-ART) project and expected to be completed within four years from the issuance of the letter of award. The details are still in the negotiation stages.

He added, “Basically, the project’s financing at the initial stage will be borne by the appointed consortium. However, current assessment results show that this mega infrastructure project is not viable if it depends entirely on private sector financing. As such, the federal government will provide funding to finance the cost of this project.”

The statement by the minister on funding gives rise to governance issues. Was this made known to the other two consortia during the briefing or in the RFP documents as this would disadvantage them?

The Cabinet has approved the project and estimated to cost about RM10 billion, or around RM350 million per kilometre, excluding land acquisition costs. This equates to a 30km line. The final cost will depend on the route alignment and system length. For a 57km line, expect the cost to be about double and will take about five years to complete. Note that when the RFP was issued in 2025, the project was estimated at around RM7 billion.

Be mindful of budget and timeline constraints as the state government wants the project to be done quickly to disperse traffic from the RTS. An alternative is a shorter 10km line with completion within two years at lower cost.

Regretfully, no timeline was disclosed on when the concession agreement is expected to be inked. The project has been delayed for several years due partly to the change in the federal government in 2018 and the Covid-19 pandemic.

A transport consultant, En Rosli Khan had voiced concern over recent developments as reports showed the scheme now being considered – automated people mover (APM) system – may differ significantly from what was previously announced. APM-like system has reliability issues as seen in KLIA’s Aerotrain and Singapore’s Bukit Panjang LRT and generally serve more limited areas with lower ridership and is more expensive and takes longer to build.

He also questioned whether the different options were evaluated fairly under the RFP process.

Further, the alignment has not been finalised as the state wants certain changes. When the RFP was called, the final alignment was supposed to be ready in August 2025. Was there co-ordination between the state and federal government before the LOI was issued?

A fixed alignment is critical for land identification plus acquisitions, mitigate risks and allow bidders to formulate competitive and uniform pricing. It is also relevant for environment impact assessment purposes and to reduce unknowns.

We need to balance cost-effectiveness with passenger capacity and speed to ensure the project delivers optimal benefits and also public policy objectives.

There is already a debate over whether Singaporeans should be charged a higher fare.

And was the submission from the successful consortium the best/optimal solution?

Politically, politicians within the government itself used it as fodder for the just concluded state election.

Were there many after-thoughts for this project?

Putrajaya must provide explanations on all of the above for the sake of transparency before calling the project as a game changer for Johor Bahru and please avoid changing the goal-post.

This proposed project together with the RTS and the HSR (High-Speed Rail) are collectively termed as massive game-changers for Johor but what exactly will it change. How much more will it boost the economy ambitions and has it been quantified?

It seems 70% of the transport ministry’s development expenditure had been spent on projects in Johor. Are other states being short-changed?

By the way, the minister admitted that mega infrastructure project is not viable if it depends entirely on private sector financing. Then why the ministry is still actively progressing with the HSR project which is will cost about ten times more at a time when budgets for the education and health ministry are being cut.

Last but not least, we don’t want to see indiscretions from previous administrations being repeated.

What say you…

 

Saleh Mohammed