THE idea of building a light rail transit (LRT) or monorail in Penang dates back decades. For more than 10 years, the Penang state government repeatedly asked the federal government to build public transit lines here.
In 2007 when Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was prime minister, Putrajaya promised that a monorail system would be built in Penang before the 2008 general election. This was followed by another pledge in 2013 by then prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who said a monorail would be constructed in Penang if Barisan National retook the state in the 2013 general election.