When the powers that be were planning the city of Putrajaya (Malaysia’s purpose-built administrative capital) they decided to include a monorail system for intra-city commuters. The network is intended to have two lines, 23 stations and 18 km of track. During the construction phase of the city some of the heavy infrastructure for the monorail was put in place but it was concluded in 2004 that the remainder of the construction should be shelved until such time as the population of Putrajaya could justify the viability of a monorail service. The city’s population has since grown to around 70,000 but there is no firm news yet on when the monorail will be de-mothballed.
I had a look round the other day to see what infrastructure is already in place. Starting at Putrajaya Sentral, the future monorail station has already been built above the mainline railway station for the KLIA transit service. The monorail is normally screened off by some hoarding but on this day the cleaners had left the door open so I took a peek inside.
Everything looks neat and well maintained but the tracks do not go far.
The monorail’s handsome suspension bridge is in place.
After the bridge the route disappears underground.
I took this photo through the railings. Considering that construction ended 7 years ago, the tunnel looks in good condition. A bit creepy though!
The tracks are intended to run on the lower deck of the Putra bridge.
Monorail signage.
Putrajaya is set to reach 150,000 inhabitants in the next 5 years and the eventual target population is 320,000. Once all the housing units which are currently lying empty, or are nearing completion, are filled up there should be sufficient demand for a monorail service. To improve the utility of the monorail it should be linked up to the planned MRT network so that commuters in nearby towns like Kajang, Puchong, Seri Kembanang and Banggi can travel into Putrajaya on public transport. Neighbouring Cyberjaya should also be linked in.