Bombardier Innovia Metro 300

The Kelana Jaya LRT Line is set to commence operations with new Bombardier Innovia Metro 300 train sets by the middle of 2016, with the first of the 14 driverless trainsets now in its arsenal. According to Prasarana president and group CEO, Datuk Azmi Abdul Aziz, the new train sets are expected to increase the capacity and quality of public transport in Kuala Lumpur.

“The new train is expected to provide better frequency and lesser waiting time in stations, thus reducing headway not longer than 2.8 minutes.” he told The Sun. He added that the new Bombardier train sets would be able to ferry 220 passengers per car, 20 more from the existing capacity.

Aside from providing a higher capacity, the train sets will come equipped with 16 closed-circuit television cameras (CCTV), a ‘Dynamic Route Map’ that provides information to passengers on destination directions, as well as a “Wheel Lubricating System’ that can reduce the train noise, resulting in a more pleasant journey.

The new train sets are set to ply the tracks on the Kelana Jaya Line about the time when the when the line’s extensions go live. The Kelana Jaya Extension will see an addition of 12 stations, stretching from the Kelana Jaya stop up to Putra Heights.

All 14 Innovia Metro 300 train sets are assembled at Bombardier’s Kingston plant in Canada before being shipped to Malaysia. Upon arrival, the trains will be directed to the Hartasuma plant for interior fit-out and testing before being sent to the LRT Subang depot for additional testing and certification.

As for the remaining 13 train sets, Azmi said the Bombardier-Hartasuma consortium would deliver one train per month to Prasarana until June 2017. The consortium was awarded the RM577.6 million train contract two years ago.