KUCHING: The overall progress of phase one of the Kuching Urban Transportation System (KUTS) project stood at 29.89% as of April this year, the Sarawak Legislative Assembly was told.
State Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Dr Jerip Susil said this was slightly behind the planned schedule of 33.86%.
He said the operations of phase one would be carried out in stages, with the first section of the Blue Line from Rembus to Riveria now anticipated to begin in the fourth quarter of next year.
"This is later than the initially targeted date due to construction delays," he told See Chee How (IND-Batu Lintang) during question time on Tuesday (May 20).
Dr Jerip also said the full operation of the entire phase one was expected to commence in 2028.
To a supplementary question from See, he said two elevated autonomous rapid transit (ART) stations would be built along Jalan Wan Alwi within the Batu Lintang constituency under phase one of KUTS.
"The entire stretch of Jalan Wan Alwi is constructed as an elevated alignment or lane, with two elevated stations, one in front of Vivacity Megamall and the other near Kuching Lodge School.
"Meanwhile, there will be one station in front of the Public Works Department divisional office with an elevated design for Batu Lintang area," he said.
Phase one of the KUTS project involves three ART lines totalling about 69.9km with 31 stations.
The Blue Line runs for about 27.6km from Rembus in Kota Samarahan to Hikmah Exchange in the city centre, the Red Line (about 12.3km) from Kuching Sentral to Pending and the Green Line (about 30km) from Pending to Damai Central.
