ALR: Toll Rates For Four Highways To Remain Unchanged For Next 10 Years

Alex Cheong Pui Yin

4th April 2024 - 2 min read

(Image: New Straits Times/Aizuddin Saad)

Motorists using four highways – specifically the Shah Alam Expressway (KESAS), Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel (SMART), SPRINT Expressway, and Damansara-Puchong Expressway (LDP) – will not need to worry about seeing toll hikes for at least the next 10 years. This comes as the group chief executive officer of Amanat Lebuhraya Rakyat (ALR), Sazally Saidi said that the current toll rates for all the four highways managed by it will be maintained until the end of each of their concession periods.

According to Sazally, this move is expected to provide direct savings of between RM800 million to RM1 billion for motorists in terms of toll compensations.

Chief transformation and corporate officer of ALR, Low Jo-Lyn also took the opportunity to explain the logic behind Sazally’s statement. “ALR’s sukuk, which was issued in 2022, has a finite maturity period of 15 years, but the more traffic there is on our highways, the shorter the concessions will be. As such, it is forecasted that ALR should be able to repay the sukuk by 2033 or 2034,” he said.

No Toll Hikes For Four Highways In Klang Valley Until End Of Concession Periods — (Image: ExpatGo)

It was also revealed that ALR is expected to generate an estimated RM487.6 million in direct savings for motorists and RM467 million in toll compensation savings for the government.

To explain, ALR was established back in 2021 as a private and not-for-profit company, with the specific purpose of acquiring toll concessionaires and accelerating the repayment of their debts. In turn, this will minimise the duration of the concession extension required, and the highways can then be returned to the government sooner.

In September 2022, ALR successfully acquired four highway concession companies (KESAS, SMART, SPRINT, and Litrak) by tapping into the sukuk market to finance its acquisition.

(Sources: The Star, Paul Tan’s Automotive News)

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Alex Cheong Pui Yin

Previously covered recruitment-related stories and had a short stint as a copywriter for the property industry. She subsequently developed an interest in investment and robo-advisors.

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