IPOH, The Railway Assets Corporation (RAC) has shortlisted two bidders for the Ipoh Railway Station Integrated Development Plan (iRide), announced Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook. Loke said RAC is currently evaluating the best proposals from both bidders, with the project expected to be awarded to the successful party by the fourth quarter of this year. "The Request for Proposal (RFP) process has gone smoothly. There are two large local consortiums interested in developing the RAC land behind Ipoh Station, which we will rebrand as Ipoh Sentral. "We hope this will serve as a catalyst for development in the city of Ipoh, as Ipoh Station is an important and very busy hub," he said during a press conference after opening the 20th Perak DAP State Convention today. He added that RAC has recently carried out upgrades at the station to improve passenger comfort. 'There is a temporary waiting area that has been renovated for passengers. This is just a minor renovation. The larger development on the adj acent land will be an integrated project known as Ipoh Sentral,' said Loke. On March 9, the media reported that the Ministry of Transport had issued an RFP to proceed with the iRide project, based on the transit-oriented development concept. Loke had said the RFP would be open for public participation for only two to three months, after which it would be evaluated, following previous delays. In a separate matter, when queried about claims that the ETS Express service from Kuala Lumpur to Ipoh takes two hours and 30 minutes, Loke said the journey should take only two hours. 'Sometimes the ETS encounters technical issues, but it should take around two hours. I will ask KTMB (Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad) what operational problems are causing the delays,' he said. Source: BERNAMA News Agency