The LRT3 Shah Alam Line will be supported by a 150-unit fleet of electric-powered feeder buses when it starts operating in the third quarter of 2025. The EV buses will have three charging depots and this is all part of the RM3.8 billion cost that was approved by the cabinet earlier this month.
This was revealed by transport minister Anthony Loke during a visit to the LRT3’s Pasar Jawa station in Klang yesterday. He said that the original scope did not include feeder buses, but buses are an important aspect for first and last mile connectivity.
The fleet of 150 EV buses and three depots were first mentioned in Budget 2024 by prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who is also finance minister.
The feeder bus purchase and supporting depots are part of the RM3.8 billion total cost to return the LRT3 Shah Alam Line to its original scope after six stations were dropped from the alignment in 2018 for cost reasons.
Five of those – Tropicana (previously Lien Hoe), Temasya, Raja Muda (Sirim), Bukit Raja and Bandar Botanik – are now back on the map but a sixth location, a 2km tunnel including an underground station at Persiaran Hishamuddin in Shah Alam, remains cancelled.
Construction of these returning stations will go on after the LRT3 is up and running with 20 stations from Bandar Utama to Johan Setia in Q3 2025. The extra work will take another two years (ready in 2027) but will not affect operations, Loke said.
Aside from the construction of the returning stations and the EV buses/depots, the RM3.8 billion bill also includes the purchase of seven sets of three-car coaches, a larger train depot at Johan Setia, and system and integration costs.
EV buses aren’t new to Rapid Bus and Prasarana. They have been trialling BYD battery-powered buses for some time now and the controlled environment that is the elevated BRT Sunway Line has been using EV buses since 2015. The public transport operator said last year that its target is to have 30% of the fleet being fully electric by 2030, onwards to 100% EV buses by 2050.
GALLERY: LRT3 Shah Alam Line Pasar Jawa station, and the train
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