The Barnett government's $2 billion MAX light rail project is all but dead after WA Transport Minister Dean Nalder said you would get "more bang for your buck" running a transit bus service.

Mr Nalder, who has just returned from a light rail fact-finding mission in Singapore and New Zealand, told Radio 6PR on Tuesday morning his government could deliver a bus route for half the cost of "MAX".

Is it the end for the MAX light rail?

"We will still deliver MAX, we will deliver something that is exactly the same experience, albeit the vehicle we use will be powered by something else, other than overhead wires," he said.

"What I'm saying is, I want to deliver something exactly the same... but if I can deliver it and it gives the exact same run times and the same customer experience, at less than 50 per cent of the cost, then that frees up $1.25 billion dollars that I can direct towards other projects that can benefit everyone on the community," he said.