by AFIQ AZIZ/ pic by ARIF KARTONO

PRASARANA Malaysia Bhd forecast its Kelana Jaya Line ridership to increase by more than 10% upon the completion of its second Kuala Lumpur Additional Vehicle (KLAV) project in 2023.

Prasarana president and CEO Muhammad Nizam Alias (picture) said by month-end, the firm will have five of the purchased trains to reach the Bombardier Hartasuma Consortium (BHC) manufacturing plant in Port Klang, Selangor.

Prior to the Covid-19 impact this year, the Kelana Jaya Line transports 320,000 passengers a day.

“With the additional trains, our frequency will be improved from three minutes to about two and a half minutes.

“That will increase our capacity and also our load, and with that extra capacity, we can attract more people to use (public transport),” Muhammad Nizam told the press after receiving the fifth train of KLAV Phase 2 project at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport yesterday.

The fifth train was flown via airfreight on Aug 22 from Plattsburgh, US, due to the manufacturing processes delay at Bombardier Transportation plant in Plattsburgh.

Bombardier country representative Ahmad Marzuki Ariffin sais the plant could not produce the unit on time due to Covid-19 pandemic.

“We believe that we are progressing well and the remaining trains will be delivered on time,” he said

The second KLAV project, which began in 2017, saw Prasarana procuring 27 sets of four-car train Bombardier Innovia Metro 300 worth RM1.7 billion from BHC.

BHC is a joint venture corp made by the Canadian-based Bombardier Transportation and local firm Hartasuma Sdn Bhd based on 35%-65% partnership.

Muhammad Nizam said the first train of this phase will be operating by end of this year.

He said the additional trains will complement Prasarana KLAV Phase 1 project, which the company had earlier received 14 sets of the same train for Kelana Jaya Line.