Smooth ride for eager commuters on first day

PETALING JAYA: It was a smooth and relatively quiet first day of operations for the Klang Valley MRT, with the project operator expecting a gradual rise in the number of commuters in the next two weeks.

There were no big crowds at some of the stations yesterday morning, although station officers at the Sg Buloh MRT station said that a small group had waited outside the station as early as 5.15am to try out the new trains.

“When we opened at 6am, they cheered in excitement. By 10am, we already had about 500 passengers,” said Nurhafiza Zulkifli, who was one of the 300 personnel on duty at the 12 stations that make up Phase One of the MRT’s Sg Buloh-Kajang (SBK) Line, which started operations yesterday.

The 12 stations are Sg Buloh, Kampung Selamat, Kwasa Daman­sara, Kwasa Sentral, Kota Daman­sara, Surian, Mutiara Dam­ansara, Bandar Utama, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Phileo Damansara, Pusat Bandar Damansara and Semantan.

Phase Two of the SBK Line – which will connect Semantan to Kajang – is scheduled to be operational by July next year.

The SBK Line is operated by Rapid Rail Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Prasarana Malaysia Bhd.

Prasarana group chief executive officer Datuk Seri Azmi Abdul Aziz told a media briefing yesterday that Rapid Rail wanted to encourage passengers to cycle to the MRT station wherever possible.

The MRT operator, he said, was conducting a study to find out which MRT stations required more bicycle parking facilities.

Excited: People enjoying their ride on an MRT train.

Commuters would not be allowed to bring their bicycles on board the train but they could bring in foldable bicycles during off-peak hours, he said.

“Portable electric scooters will not be allowed on the MRT trains as they are bulky,” he added.

Azmi said the number of commuters taking the MRT was expected to increase gradually over the coming days to reach an estimated 160,000 passengers per day.

“The big increase will be from early next month when the school term starts and people get back from their holiday.

“Today (yesterday), many of those who took the MRT were those who were curious and wanted to try out this new service.”

Some 120 feeder buses have been deployed along 26 routes to service the 12 stations.

Azmi said additional feeder buses would be provided to ferry passengers from the Semantan MRT station to Bangsar and KL Sentral in order to improve connectivity.

“When Phase Two is completed next year, passengers will be able to take the MRT from Sungai Buloh to the Muzium Negara station and from there, they can easily access KL Sentral.”

Asked about commuters who may be hesitant to take the MRT in its early stages due to fears of “teething problems”, Azmi said each of the more than 1,000 components that make up the SBK Line 1 had undergone a rigorous six-month testing and commissioning process.

Rapid Rail spent another three months on trial operations to ensure that the service would be glitch-free.

“It’s a smooth ride. We hope more people will take the MRT from now on,” said Azmi.