MRT Corp’s e-bidding exercise for Penang LRT ruffles feathers

Thursday 17 Sep 2026

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This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on April 13, 2026 - April 19, 2026

IN an unprecedented move, Malaysia Rapid Transit Corporation (MRT Corp) has opted for an e-bidding exercise to help it determine the most competitive proposal for the systems job of the Penang Light Rail Transit (Mutiara Line) project.

The decision has ruffled feathers among the tenderers because after numerous clarifications since June last year, they were under the impression that MRT Corp would have already short-listed the contenders and moved into final negotiations to determine the award.

“But now, MRT Corp wants to do an e-bidding exercise to determine the most competitive bid price for the systems package. All seven contenders are invited for the e-bidding exercise and the lowest price is not necessarily the winning bid,” says an industry executive.

“The pricing and technical scores of each and every proposal is known among the contenders. If MRT Corp wants to reduce the price further to suit its budget, it can easily call in the short-listed companies and decide who can bring down their price to fit its (MRT Corp’s) budget.

“If e-bidding is the final phase of evaluation and all seven are invited, why did it have to go through all the technical evaluation? By right, the evaluation is supposed to omit the tenderers that have failed technically,” explains the industry executive.

According to the notice by MRT Corp to the tenderers, the lowest bid will not necessarily be the winning bid. “MRT Corp has specified that it reserves the right not to select the lowest bid price as the winner,” it stated.

The tender for the systems job was called in December 2024 and finally closed in June last year after a few extensions. It is a design-and-build job to undertake the signalling, rolling stock and track works of the Penang LRT system.

In August last year, MRT Corp issued another addendum to change the design of the rolling stock from four-car train sets to three-car train sets.

Seven consortiums put in their bids. They are led by Gamuda Bhd (KL:GAMUDA), MMC Group, YTL Group, Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (KL:MRCB), a partnership of Lion Pacific Sdn Bhd and WCT Holdings Bhd (KL:WCT), Dhaya Maju Infrastructure Asia Sdn Bhd and Berjaya Rail Sdn Bhd.

The WCT consortium came in with the lowest price when the tender closed in June last year. “But, subsequently, all the tenderers also dropped their price to below RM3 billion,” says a source.

E-bidding is commonly used by large construction companies such as Gamuda, IJM Corp Bhd (KL:IJM) and Sunway Construction Group Bhd (KL:SUNCON) to award jobs. But the process is for smaller jobs where the main contractor has already determined the design, specifications and built quantity (BQ).

A consultant who has handled several urban railway jobs in Malaysia says e-bidding is not used to determine design-and-build jobs, especially in the case of a systems package.

The consultant says e-bidding is more suitable for build-only contracts with uniform specifications.

“The systems package involves different technical solutions, making price comparison difficult. It is not an apple-to-apple comparison. The job is highly technical because it involves signalling and rolling stock communicating with each other so that the train can move along the tracks to a designated point safely.

“The final product is the same but the components are all different, which is why the job is not easily comparable. There can be teething problems if the systems contractor is not well evaluated and there are examples in Malaysia where it is happening,” the consultant says.

The aerotrain project at Kuala Lumpur International Airport encountered teething problems after its opening last year, with its services being disrupted several times. The LRT3 project from Bandar Utama to Klang is still not commissioned because of problems with the systems package.

A contractor says the e-bidding system tends to favour consortiums with partners from China, which are inclined to drop prices simply to have a foot in the country.

Among the seven contenders, the majority have some form of partnership with companies from China. One of the few exceptions is MMC Group, which has partnered with Hyundai Rotem for the rolling stock and Hitachi of Japan for signalling.

MRT Corp on why it wants an e-bidding exercise

When the tender for the systems package of the Penang Light Rail Transit (LRT) project was called in December 2024, many in the industry expected a final decision to be made within a year. But after 16 months, Malaysia Rapid Transit Corporation (MRT Corp) has yet to award the project.

The tender for the systems package, which comprises signalling, rolling stock and track works and covers 29.5km, was initially slated to close on April 14 last year. It eventually closed in June, with seven consortiums participating.

Among the requirements were that tenderers must come up with a proposal to incorporate a higher degree of local content in the rolling stock and to establish a local assembly plant for the train car sets.

In August, the tenderers were told to incorporate a proposal for a three-car train set instead of a four-car train set, to cater for the eventuality of low passenger traffic in the initial stages of the operations. The tender finally closed last September.

When the tender closed, a consortium led by Lion Pacific Sdn Bhd and WCT Holdings Bhd (KL:WCT) had the lowest price of about RM2.7 billion. The other contenders were consortiums led by Gamuda Bhd (KL:GAMUDA), YTL Group, MMC Group, Dhaya Maju Infrastructure Asia Sdn Bhd, Berjaya Rail Sdn Bhd and Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (KL:MRCB).

However, it is learnt that the other consortiums also dropped the price to under RM3 billion in the following months, upon further clarifications from MRT Corp.

Sources say that MRT Corp had already shortlisted the names to three earlier this year: Gamuda, YTL Group and MMC Group. Even so, the dark horse is said to be the WCT-Lion Pacific joint venture.

However, MRT Corp last week called for an e-bidding exercise, which came as a surprise to the tenderers. The bidders claimed MRT Corp did not indicate there would be an e-bidding exercise as part of the evaluation when the tender briefing was done more than a year ago.

According to MRT Corp, the reason was to ensure the most competitive pricing. It said the tender exercise was in the final stages and denied that it was calling for the e-bidding exercise because it was unable to make a decision.

Below are MRT Corp’s responses to questions from The Edge on the issue.

The Edge: What is the rationale and logic for the e-bidding exercise?

MRT Corp: We are carrying out a reverse e-bidding exercise for us to establish the most competitive bid price for the systems package.

Is it true that MRT Corp had already done its final evaluation, and recommendations were already completed in January this year to select the winning tenderer?

We are currently at the final stage of evaluation.

Was the clause for e-bidding part of the tender document when it was issued?

The tender documents incorporate clauses that allow MRT Corp to adopt appropriate evaluation methods to achieve the best overall outcome.

There were seven tenderers who had submitted their bids when the tenders closed. Is it true that all seven companies are invited to the e-bidding exercise?

All bidders are invited to the e-bidding exercise.

There is a perception that MRT Corp could not make a decision on the tender package for the systems, hence the delays and reason for the e-bidding. What are your views on this?

We are clear on our requirements and it is now a matter of getting th.e most competitive bid price.

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