PETALING JAYA: Train and bus services operated by Prasarana Malaysia Bhd under the Rapid branding have recorded an average of 1.18 million journeys completed on its network on any given day in 2024, another all-time high for the operator.
"This represents a 24% increase compared to 2023, which recorded a daily average of 955,000 (journeys)," Transport Minister Anthony Loke told a press conference at Prasarana headquarters on Friday (Jan 17).
The media briefing summarised Prasarana's achievements for 2024 as well as measures done to improve ridership, among others.
The increase in users came on the back of several major initiatives to improve the reliability of buses and trains, along with the full opening of the Putrajaya line on March 16, 2023.
Improvements for 2024 include the injection of new trains into the network, especially for the heavily used Kelana Jaya line, which used to be the country's most well-used urban rail line.
Loke said the increase in trains and service frequency was matched by the decrease in service disruptions when measured with mean kilometres between failure (MKBF).
Prasarana aims to achieve an MKBF of one million kilometres between failures or significant disruptions by 2026.
A disruption longer than five minutes is logged, and MKBF measures the distance clocked by train services on the same line before the next disruption is logged.
The longer the distance travelled before the next disruption happens, the greater the reliability of the line, with metro operators in places like Singapore and Hong Kong routinely achieving MKBF figures exceeding one million km.
Of the five train lines that Prasarana operates - Kajang, Kelana Jaya, Putrajaya, KL Monorail, and Ampang - only the relatively new Putrajaya line showed good reliability.
The best performer for 2024 is the Putrajaya line, with an MKBF score of 1.35 (or 1.35 million km between failures), followed by the Ampang Line at 0.31, or 310,000km.
Loke also confirmed that Klang Valley commuters can look forward to a wider train network this year when the Shah Alam line (formerly known as LRT3) opens for service at the end of September, while regular users will find their ticketing experience improved by being able to use e-wallets to top up the My50 unlimited use travel pass by May.
"This means they do not need to line up at a manual counter to renew their My50 pass," said Loke, who added that a workable open payment system (that accepts options like credit cards) should be rolled out by the end of the year.
Ridership of Prasarana can be found at myrapid.com.my/bus-train/ridership/.
