JV company clinches contract to build Red Line

KUCHING: Sarawak Metro Sdn Bhd has awarded a joint venture company, comprising Sri Datai Construction (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd, JT JV Builders Sdn Bhd and CHEC Construction (M) Sdn Bhd with the contract to build the infrastructure for the Red Line.

The Red Line is one of the three transit lines under the Kuching Urban Transportation System (KUTS) project.

Sarawak Metro said that a total of six bids were received at the close of the tender exercise on Oct 25.

The contract, valued at RM943 million, is for the construction and completion of the infrastructure work for the 12.3km Red Line, which stretches from Kuching Sentral to Pending.

“Apart from building the at-grade and elevated dedicated lane for the Autonomous Rapid Transit (ART), the contract is also for road widening works as well as other infrastructure works.

“The joint venture company is expected to commence work next month and is scheduled to complete by Dec 2026,” it said in a statement.

Sarawak Metro, a subsidiary of Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC), has been entrusted to develop, operate and maintain the KUTS, which is under the purview of the Ministry of Transport Sarawak.

The project is being developed in phases with Phase 1 consisting of the Blue Line, the Red Line and the Green Line.

For the Blue Line, it covers a distance of 27.6km from Rembus in Kota Samarahan to Hikmah Exchange in the city centre while the Green Line (30km) is from Pending to Damai.

Phase 1 of the KUTS project is scheduled to begin passenger service in stages; starting from the fourth quarter of 2025 and expected to complete by the end of 2027.

The backbone of the KUTS project is the ART vehicles, which will be supported by feeder buses. 

Both vehicles will be powered by green hydrogen, in support of Sarawak’s decarbonisation efforts and in line with Sarawak’s agenda to advance the hydrogen economy.