KUALA LUMPUR: The Light Rapid Transit system is going to see improvement in the wake of recent censure by the prime minister: 35 new trains are in the pipeline.

The proverbial fly in the ointment is that one new four-car train will only be on the tracks in September next year, clearly not soon enough for Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

The rest of the trains will be operational by April 2011.

Syarikat Prasarana Negara Berhad chief executive officer Shaipudin Shah Harun said the delay was unavoidable as the trains were custom built from scratch abroad.

They will arrive in Port Klang in November.
The time before commissioning will be spent on assembling the parts of the units, upgrading the power capability of the line and carrying out safety tests.

He said the new four-car trains would increase the capacity of the Kelana Jaya line from 160,000 passengers to 350,000 passengers daily.

Abdullah, in a surprise check on the LRT and Komuter services recently, found them wanting with long queues and an inordinately long waiting time for trains.

Subsequently, he announced a RM35 billion allocation in Budget 2009 to improve public transportation services.

Shaipudin said the trains, manufactured by Canadian conglomerate Bombardier, were ordered in 2006.

He said the time taken for the trains to be operational was the industry standard.

"Every train is made from scratch, and not just anybody can make them," he said at a post-budget press conference.

He said the trains were customised to the needs of individual customers, taking up to a year to build. He added: "It is the nature of the industry."

Prasarana took over operations of both the Ampang and Kelana Jaya lines in January 2005.

Asked why Prasarana had waited until the LRT had became congested before ordering the trains, Shaipudin said that as the company took over the operations only in 2005, it could not be held accountable for what had happened before this.

"We had to make do with a lack of investment in public transport since 1998 when there were no new allocations. Only the monorail was built during this time.

"But, if I said there was a gap (in investment) it would imply that somebody slacked. Whether we inherited a system that was flawed, it's not up to me to say."

He added that this was mostly due to the financial crises, which had left the government with more pressing priorities than public transport.

"The new allocation is timely. Investment in public transport has to continue as the city continues to grow. The city is projected to have a population of 8.5 million by 2020. Can you imagine the number of cars on the roads to transport them at that time?"

He added that the government could save up to RM3 billion in fuel costs per annum for each million passengers opting to take public transport such as the LRT.

Shaipudin said the public should understand that it took time for a city to develop a comprehensive transport system.

"London (which has a very efficient public transport system) took over 100 years to develop theirs," he said.

The Kelana Jaya line would be extended, he said.

A new LRT line connecting Kota Damansara to Cheras via the city will be launched.

There will be new southern and northern integrated transport bus terminals. The southern terminal will be in Bandar Tasik Selatan, while the northern terminal's location has yet to be determined.

Both terminals, slated to be ready by 2011, should ease congestion as they will replace all inner city bus stations and will be connected by rail to the city.