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Malaysia’s first Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system in Bandar Sunway is nearing completion and is expected to be operational by June 9. The service will be Malaysia’s first proper electric bus service, as well as the first fully-elevated BRT system in South East Asia.

The new 5.4 km Sunway Line is being built by Prasarana Malaysia Berhad in collaboration with Sunway Group as part of the government’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) programme. It connects the Sunway commercial centre with the Setia Jaya KTM Komuter station and the USJ7 LRT station, the latter being part of the upcoming Kelana Jaya Line extension.

The RM634 million project is aimed at improving traffic flow in the Bandar Sunway and Subang Jaya area, as well as to promote higher productivity and a healthier lifestyle for more than 500,000 people living in the area, including over 30,000 students. Prasarana expects a ridership of 2,400 passengers per hour, eventually reaching 5,200 passengers per hour by 2035.

Seven stations will be built to serve Setia Jaya, Mentari Business Park, Sunway Lagoon, Sunway Medical Centre, Monash University Malaysia and USJ7. The Monash University station is a “park ‘n’ ride” facility featuring 1,153 parking bays, including 102 female bays, 23 handicapped bays and 121 motorcycle bays.

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The 15 BYD-badged electric buses that service the route have a top speed of 80 km/h, are fully equipped with universal access facilities and feature a capacity of 67 passengers, with 25 of them seated. Range is quoted at 250 km – or 23 trips a day – enabling the buses to run for 12 hours in between charges.

Prasarana says that there are more BRT lines at various locations in the pipeline, with the National Land Public Transport Master Plan showing 12 more set to be built.

“They are planned at areas identified as having desperately high demand and without access to planned systems, such as in Ampang, Melawati, Subang and Kepong,” said Prasarana’s group managing director Azmi Abdul Aziz. “However, the Land Public Transport Commission and the government will decide on building future BRTs.”

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