KUALA LUMPUR (June 11): The refurbishment of three sets of monorail trains will be completed, and the train sets are expected to delivered by Aug 16 this year, says Transport Minister Anthony Loke.

Loke said the three sets of trains will start to operate immediately after being delivered to Prasarana Malaysia Bhd.

The remaining two sets of trains are expecting to delivered three months later, Loke told a press conference after a surprise visit to the KL Monorail Depot in Brickfields this morning.

In early April, Loke announced that Prasarana and Scomi Group's unit Scomi Transit Project Sdn Bhd (STP) had entered into a RM303 million settlement agreement to resolve the disputes between both parties in relation to the Kuala Lumpur Fleet Monorail Expansion project contract agreement.

For the settlement agreement, STP has to repair five sets of four-car trains that have stopped operating since January last year, and Prasarana would acquire seven new four-car train sets for the Rapid KL Monorail route.

The refurbishment contract for five sets of trains costs RM181 million. The first three train sets will be refurbished within three months of the commencement of restoration works while the remaining two sets will be refurbished within six months of the start date.

Meanwhile, the new train sets cost RM122 million and are targeted for delivery within 30 months from the signing date.