Improving Transport for Better Property Prospects
One of the many basic rules about properties is the accessibility to the area, besides all the other unwritten rules such as proximity to good schools and facilities. Accessibility becomes a very important factor when it comes to the increase of property prices.
When it comes to transport system, we may refer to some countries with more expensive properties such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan. Prices of homes soar and commercial properties are grabbed easily since any spot is a good spot because of the accessibility. It is then no surprise that the new economic giant, China, has decided to build the world's fastest train to connect to its major cities all around the country and to increase the number of destination lines to make travelling so much easier from one point to another.
What about Malaysia? At best, Malaysia is only now opening its eyes to the importance of public transport, despite years of persuasion and comment from the public. A new mass rapid transit (MRT) system will begin construction in July as Malaysia's largest infrastructure project. As usual, such a project will center around the Kalng Valley area, as the perceived urgency is based on the double-fold increase in population in the area since mid-1990s until now.
At Klang Valley, two separate systems were built instead of one, the monorail and the LRT line. The two systems do not integrate with each other, and saw a messy plan of the two systems, building almost ad-hoc with some inconvenience to users which made driving a more attractive option despite the distance. Drivers will prefer to be in their air-conditioned car than to alight from the LRT and walk a distance in the humid weather to board the monorail to reach their destination. It is just not feasible.
Will the MRT project be just another "me too" project that just must be done because others have it? Or will it be a well-thought out plan which will foresee the support of this facility for a capacity that may grow many times more in the near future? London's underground railway system is the oldest in the world, about 150 years old, and it serves a population of more than 7 million. Yet, when it was built 150 years ago, it did not serve so many people. Singapore built its trains 25 years ago, and the trains are serving a population of 5 million. How will it be for Malaysia?
When it comes to transport system, we may refer to some countries with more expensive properties such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan. Prices of homes soar and commercial properties are grabbed easily since any spot is a good spot because of the accessibility. It is then no surprise that the new economic giant, China, has decided to build the world's fastest train to connect to its major cities all around the country and to increase the number of destination lines to make travelling so much easier from one point to another.
What about Malaysia? At best, Malaysia is only now opening its eyes to the importance of public transport, despite years of persuasion and comment from the public. A new mass rapid transit (MRT) system will begin construction in July as Malaysia's largest infrastructure project. As usual, such a project will center around the Kalng Valley area, as the perceived urgency is based on the double-fold increase in population in the area since mid-1990s until now.
At Klang Valley, two separate systems were built instead of one, the monorail and the LRT line. The two systems do not integrate with each other, and saw a messy plan of the two systems, building almost ad-hoc with some inconvenience to users which made driving a more attractive option despite the distance. Drivers will prefer to be in their air-conditioned car than to alight from the LRT and walk a distance in the humid weather to board the monorail to reach their destination. It is just not feasible.
Will the MRT project be just another "me too" project that just must be done because others have it? Or will it be a well-thought out plan which will foresee the support of this facility for a capacity that may grow many times more in the near future? London's underground railway system is the oldest in the world, about 150 years old, and it serves a population of more than 7 million. Yet, when it was built 150 years ago, it did not serve so many people. Singapore built its trains 25 years ago, and the trains are serving a population of 5 million. How will it be for Malaysia?
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