MRT Corp, Rapid Rail sign MRT handing over deal

The SSP Line will serve a corridor with a population of around two million people stretching from Sungai Buloh to Putrajaya.

KUALA LUMPUR: Mass Rapid Transit Corp Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp) and Rapid Rail Sdn Bhd have signed the MRT handing over and operating agreement, which formally appoints the latter as the operator for the MRT Sungai Buloh-Kajang (SBK) Line.

Besides the operational requirements for the line, the agreement also spells out the obligations that Rapid Rail, a subsidiary of Prasarana Malaysia Bhd, has with regards to maintenance of the rolling stock, stations, systems and other assets.

The agreement was inked by MRT Corp chief executive officer Datuk Seri Shahril Mokhtar and Rapid Rail chief executive Ahmad Nizam Mohamed Amin.

Shahril said this was an historic moment for MRT Corp as it signalled the transformation of the MRT Sungai Buloh-Kajang Line as a project that was under construction towards an operational MRT line.

“For the past six years, MRT Corp had worked hard to create a modern, state-of-the-art MRT system and now, we are near the moment when we hand over what we have created to the appointed operator,” he said in statement.

The Government had earlier decided that Prasarana, or its subsidiary, would be the operator for the SBK Line, the first line of the Klang Valley MRT Project to be developed by MRT Corp.

This was to ensure complete integration of the MRT service with the existing light rail transit (LRT) and monorail services currently operated by Rapid Rail. MRT Corp would remain the asset owner of the SBK Line.

Under the agreement, Rapid Rail is appointed as the operator for a term of 10 years, with an option of an extension of a further five years. The agreement was drawn up on the basis of asset lease terms with Rapid Rail leasing the asset from MRT Corp for an annual fee.

Rapid Rail will operate the MRT line and retain all fares collected, while MRT Corp will retain non-fare revenue, such as revenue from advertising and retail leasing. The fares will be set by the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD).

Rapid Rail will also be responsible for maintaining the assets. However, major refurbishing costs will be borne by MRT Corp, the asset owner.

MRT Corp will set asset performance key performance indicators (KPI) on Rapid Rail to ensure the assets perform at the highest level. The KPIs will also enable MRT Corp to optimise the asset’s lifecycle cost management. At the end of the lease, the assets would be returned to the asset owner in a fair condition.

MRT Corp’s operations and asset maintenance division will oversee matters involving assets maintenance, including carrying out asset condition audits throughout the lease period. All operations related to KPI will be set by SPAD as the government agency that regulates and enforces all matters relating to public transport. Among the factors that measure the operations KPI are timeliness, availability and reliability.

Prasarana will also operate the feeder bus system that will provide first and last-mile connectivity to the MRT network.

The first phase of the SBK Line – between the Sungai Buloh Station and the Semantan Station - will begin operations in December 2016, with the second stage of operations covering the rest of the line to commence in July 2017. In view of this, the handover by MRT Corp to Rapid Rail will be carried out in two stages in accordance with the two operations dates.