Another banner year expected for public transport


PETALING JAYA: Public transport is set for another high this year with more trains and payment options, as well as higher rail reliability to benefit commuters and travellers.

Prasarana Malaysia Bhd said it recorded an average of 1.18 million journeys completed on its network on any given day last year – an increase of 24% from 2023.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke said measures to make urban rail and stage bus travel more inviting include making trains and buses more reliable, especially when measured by a metric known as “mean kilometres between failure” (MKBF).

“By increasing service reliability, we hope that the public will have greater faith in using the services,” he said after being briefed by Prasarana at its headquarters at Lembah Subang here yesterday.

For rail, a service disruption longer than five minutes is logged as an event, and MKBF measures the distance clocked by train services on the same line before the next disruption happens.

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 kilometres.

According to Loke, the Prasarana board approved allocations for maintenance, especially through its embrace of “enhanced maintenance philosophy”.

On the upswing:  (From left) Loke, Prasarana president Mohd Azharuddin Mat Sah, Transport Ministry deputy secretary-general (management) Dr Nor Fuad Abdul Hamid and Prasarana group chairman Tan Sri Jamaludin Ibrahim view a chart on rising public transport ridership. — BernamaOn the upswing: (From left) Loke, Prasarana president Mohd Azharuddin Mat Sah, Transport Ministry deputy secretary-general (management) Dr Nor Fuad Abdul Hamid and Prasarana group chairman Tan Sri Jamaludin Ibrahim view a chart on rising public transport ridership. — Bernama

“This means more predictive maintenance to get things right, before they actually break down during service,” he said.

Looking at the big picture, Prasarana’s report card for 2024 is a sterling one, with trains and bus services operated by its subsidiaries, Rapid Rail and Rapid Bus, showing significantly higher ridership compared with 2023, with the only worrying part coming from bus ridership in Penang and Kuantan, which was largely stagnant.

On the 24% increase in the completed journeys on Prasarana’s network compared to 2023, Loke said a daily average of 955,000 was recorded.

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, with an MKBF score of 1.35 (or 1.35 million kilometres between failures).

The goal is to get all lines hitting the one-milion-km mark by the second quarter of 2026.

A lot of focus is put on the Kelana Jaya line, which held the distinction of being the country’s most used urban rail line for the longest time, until it was overtaken by the Kajang MRT (the former Sungai Buloh-Kajang) line starting last June (2024).

To improve the reliability of the 26-year-old line, 27 new train sets have been procured, with 23 already put into service as of last December.

Loke also said that regular public transport users will find their ticketing experience improved by May, when they will be able to renew their My50 unlimited use travel pass using e-wallets.

“This means they do not need to line up at a manual counter to renew their My50 pass,” he said, adding that an open payment system (that accepts options like credit cards, among others) could be rolled out by the end of the year when the procurement process goes on as planned.

“Prasarana did call for a tender earlier, but it was not satisfied with what emerged. A limited tender will be done among the shortlisted companies, and the tender should be awarded by the second quarter of this year.

“Still, it may take time to implement, and that could also happen in stages, so we may be looking at the end of the year,” he said.

Rail operators that have implemented open payment systems in Malaysia include KTM Bhd and Ekspres Rail Link Sdn Bhd, operator of the KLIA airport rail, though Prasarana’s challenge will be making it happen simultaneously for both its trains and buses.

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