Rapid Rail

Malaysia's efforts to revolutionise commuting began in 1984 when the then Minister of Federal Territory Shahrir Abdul Samad released details of a light rapid transit (LRT) system implementation study for Kuala Lumpur. Many were sceptical over its implementation, especially when financing was a major question. The study, undertaken by a Belgian consortium in association with Spie Batignolles of France in cooperation with Master Carriage Malaysia Sdn Bhd, was for an urban or suburban LRT system - powered by overhead electric lines or catenaries. The system - covering 18 stations between Petaling Jaya and Sentul - was targeted for implementation in 1984 and completion in 1988.[6] Unfortunately, the project did not take off until 4 years later, when the Government of Malaysia signed an agreement with Sistem Transit Aliran Ringan Sdn Bhd (STAR). The first LRT line, named STAR LRT after its owner, was constructed and opened completely in 1998. The original system consisted of 36 stations along two routes, Sentul Timur – Ampang and Sentul Timur – Sri Petaling.[7][8]

Around the same time, the government signed another agreement with Projek Usahasama Transit Ringan Automatik Sdn Bhd (PUTRA) to construct the second LRT system. The line, known as PUTRA LRT, featured a single route from Gombak in the north to Kelana Jaya in the south. The section of the line was built underground and became Malaysia's first underground railway. The line was fully operational in 1999, and complemented the STAR LRT system.[9]

However, both STAR and PUTRA ran into financial difficulties and both companies filed for bankruptcy.[10] In 2002, both companies were bailed out by the government, and the newly formed Prasarana Malaysia took over ownership of both the lines, renaming them STAR Line and PUTRA Line respectively. In 2004, the routes were renamed and rebranded under the Rapid KL brand, with the STAR Line producing the LRT Ampang Line and LRT Sri Petaling Line, and the PUTRA Line forming the LRT Kelana Jaya Line. Operations of the three lines were assumed by Rapid Rail. in 2016, the Sri Petaling Line and Kelana Jaya Line were both extended beyond their southern termini to Subang Jaya and Puchong respectively, with both lines now sharing a common southern terminus at Putra Heights.

In the 1990s, the government of Malaysia commissioned a stradle-beam monorail to serve the city centre of Kuala Lumpur. Various delays and changes to the project occurred, however, the KL Monorail line was fully operation in 2003. The Line was owened and operated by KL Infrastructure Group.[11] The company ran into financial difficulties, leading to a government takeover. In the end, the line was sold to Prasarana Malaysia, and was placed under the operations of Rapid Rail and was integrated into the Rapid KL system in 2007.

In 2010, then Prime Minister Najib Razak announced proposals to introduce a new mass rapid transit (MRT) system to complement the current metro system. The proposal included three new lines in a "Wheel and Spoke" formation around the city.[12] The Mass Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp) was founded in 2011 and was appointed as the owner of the project and the MRT lines, unlike the LRT and monorail lines which are owned by Prasarana Malaysia. However, Rapid Rail was awarded the concession to operate the MRT lines, thus allowing the MRT lines to be full integrated with the Rapid KL system. The first line to be constructed, the MRT Kajang Line, which runs from Sungai Buloh to Kajang, entered full revenue service in 2017.[13][14]

Rapid Rail implements an automatic fare collection system with stored value tickets and single journey tickets in the form of tokens. Tickets can be purchased either from ticket vending machines or at station counters found at all train statioms stations.[18] Turnstiles are located at the entrances to train platform, which separate the paid area and unpaid area of the stations. In 2011, Prasarana Malaysia announced a new ticketing system, effectively integrating the different rail lines which previously functioned as different systems. The new system allowed passengers to transfer seamlessly between rail lines at designated interchange stations without exiting the system and paying multiple fares or buying new tokens.[19]

Touch 'n Go stored value cards are also accepted at fare gates on the Rapid Rail network as well as the Rapid Bus network as well as the KTM Komuter system to improve integration.[20] The Touch 'n Go system is also used in the production of Rapid KL's monthly/weekly passes as well as their stored-value concession cards.[21][22] These passes can be purchased by frequent users of the Rapid KL rail and bus networks, The Rapid KL concession cards are provided for students, the elderly and disabled people, which provides a 50% discount on all train and bus fares.[21]

The rail services operates daily from 6 a.m. to 12p.m. The operation hours will be extended for certain stations when special events such as the final of Piala Malaysia[23] and New Year's Eve countdown[24] were held.

The Ampang Line consists of two sub-lines, one a north–south line and one heading eastward.[26] The Chan Sow Lin-Sri Petaling route serves the southern part of Kuala Lumpur. The Chan Sow Lin-Ampang route primarily serves the suburb of Ampang in Selangor and the town of Pudu in Kuala Lumpur, both of which are located in the northeastern region of the Klang Valley. Both lines converge at Chan Sow Lin; the merged line leads north, terminating at Sentul Timur LRT station.

The Kelana Jaya Line consists of a single line that connects Petaling Jaya in the west to Gombak in the northeast, passing through the city centre and various low density residential areas further north in Kuala Lumpur. The line has a total of 870 individual bridges, the longest of which has a 68m span.[27]

The Ampang Line and the Kelana Jaya Line intersect at Masjid Jamek and Putra Heights.

The rolling stock of the Kelana Jaya Line, in use since the opening of the line in 1998, consists of a fleet of 35 Mark II Bombardier Advanced Rapid Transit (ART) trains[28] with related equipment and services supplied by the Bombardier Group. The ART trains consist of two-electric multiple units, which serve as either a driving car or trailer car depending on its direction of travel. The trains use linear motors and draw power from a third rail located at the side of the steel rails. The plating in between the running rails is used for accelerating and decelerating the train. The reaction plate is semi-magnetised, which pulls the train along as well as helps it to slow down.

The ART is essentially driverless, automated to travel along lines and stop at designated stations for a limited amount of time. Nevertheless, manual override control panels are provided at each end of the trains for use in an event of an emergency.

Since October 2006, the operator has ordered 35 new 4-car trainsets to be delivered starting from 2008. Due to some delays from the manufacturer, the delivery was delayed to November 2008. After extensive series of testing, the first batch of trains began operation on Dec 30, 2009.[29]

The rolling stock of the Ampang Line currently consists of a fleet of 50 new trains, better known as AMY, that are deployed to increase the capacity of the line and provide a better service. Each of the new trains is six cars long and provided by CSR Zhuzhou of China, similar to on the design for İzmir Metro and Buenos Aires Underground 200 Series. These trains are disabled-friendly and include safety features like closed-circuit TV, emergency breakable window, emergency ventilation fan, fire and smoke detection system and supervised automatic train operation system (SATO), and other elements such as interactive destination display inside the train, non-slipping seats, LCD infotainment, walk-through gangways, and a more spacious wheelchair space for the physically challenged. The first trains were put into service on the Sri Petaling-Kinrara BK5 stretch in October 2015, and then until Putra Heights and Sentul Timur in July 2016, and finally the Ampang branch line in December 2016.

The former rolling stock of the Ampang Lines consists of a fleet of 90 standard gauge light rail vehicles manufactured in Australia by Walkers Limited.[30] The trains consist of electric multiple units, which draw power from the underside of a third rail installed along a side of the line. All cars in each train are fitted with both current collector and motors. The trains are manned, with driver cabs occupying the tips of the trains.

The trains come in two trainset configurations. The first and most common variation is the six-car trainset, which consists of three sets of two EMUs (2+2+2) and uses the maximum platform length of the lines' stations. Each two EMU sets at the front and rear consist of one driving and one non-driving motor car, while the two EMUs between are non-driving motors. There are no gangway connections between the two-car sets. The second variation is a four-car trainset, a more obscure configuration that consists of only two EMU sets (2+2) of one driving car and one non-driving motor at each end, thus with two-thirds the capacity of the more common six-car set. The 2+2 trainsets were once used in full in the service until the massive deployment of 2+2+2 trainsets.

Each car has 3 bogies, 2 powered end bogies and one trailing bogie under the central articulation. The end cars, numbered 1101 to 1260 have driver cabs. The middle car number 2201 to 2230 have concealed driver control panels to enable the car to be moved around the depot independently.

Fleet

Line Code	Line Name	Formation	In service On order	EMU/Fleet	Manufacturers
3	Ampang Line	6 carriage EMU	50 trainsets (300 car)	CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive LRV "AMY"	CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive
4	Sri Petaling Line
5	Kelana Jaya Line	2 carriage EMU 4 carriage EMU	35 trainsets (70 car) 49 trainsets (196 car) 27 trainsets (108 car)	Bombardier Innovia Metro	Bombardier *Consortium Bombardier / Hartasuma
8	KL Monorail	2 carriage EMU 4 carriage EMU	12 trainsets (24 car) 6 trainsets (24 car)	MTrans Monorail Scomi SUTRA	Scomi Rail
9	Kajang Line	4 carriage EMU	58 trainsets (232 car)	Siemens Inspiro "The Guiding Light"	*Consortium Siemens / CRRC Nanjing Puzhen / SMH Rail
11	Johan Setia Line	6 carriage EMU	42 trainsets (252 car)	CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive LRV	*Consortium CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive / Siemens Ltd China / Tegap Dinamik
12	Putrajaya Line	4 carriage EMU	49 trainsets (196 car)	Hyundai Rotem	*Consortium Hyundai Rotem / Apex Communications / POSCO Engineering

• 
  Siemens Inspiro "The Guiding Light" on Kajang Line
• 
  A Bombardier Innovia Metro used in the Kelana Jaya Line
• 
  Sri Petaling Line's light rail vehicle (LRV)
• 
  A 4-car KL Monorail train of Scomi SUTRA
• 
  Ampang Line's Bandaraya station
• 
  The concourse level of the Ampang Park LRT station on the Kelana Jaya Line with the turnstiles in the foreground.
• 
  Exterior of the Universiti LRT station at night. It is one of several elevated stations on the Kelana Jaya Line.

• Prasarana Malaysia Berhad
• Mass Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp)
• Suruhanjaya Pengangkutan Awam Darat (SPAD)