KUALA LUMPUR: Prasarana Malaysia Bhd will spend a total of RM2.8 billion to improve train and bus services which involves replacing train equipment and increasing the number of trains and buses.

Prasarana group president and chief executive officer Mohd Azharuddin Mat Sah said the provision given by the Finance Ministry and Transport Ministry involves the entire public transport service under the management of Prasarana following high demand among city residents.

"If it is seen that improvements are needed, we need to replace the equipment as soon as possible and increase the number of trains which are not sufficient for the time being," he said in the programme 'Jendela Fikir: Membina Pengangkutan Public Bersama' broadcast by Bernama Radio today.

Mohd Azharuddin said the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the global supply chain and Prasarana is no exception to the issue

In fact, he said the replacement equipment needed for trains on the Kelana Jaya route which often had service disruptions was also affected due to the order being sent late to the operator.

"Currently the issue we are facing is the service that needs to be upgraded and the supply of spare parts that is affected.

"Our order for train replacements at the beginning of last year could not be delivered at the appointed time in August 2022 but will only be received in January and May this year," he said.

He said the almost 25-year-old Kelana Jaya route should have been fully maintained in the last three or four years, but only the Ampang route was improved.

"For the Kelana Jaya route in the last three or four years, it has not been able to be fully upgraded and I admit that there are weaknesses from the maintenance aspect of this route, but the solution is that I have obtained permission from the board of directors and the Finance Ministry to upgrade the route as soon as possible," he explained.

He said Prasarana started improvements since the pandemic started in 2020 to increase the number of users of public services that are decreasing.

Last year the daily average number was 720,000 passengers and of that number, 520,000 were rail service passengers while nearly 200,000 were bus passengers.

"This is still less when compared to the era before the pandemic where the number of daily passengers was very high with 1.2 million passengers.

"Therefore, with the improvements that are currently underway whether for rail or bus services, we expect to be able to increase the number of passengers like before the pandemic," he added.

 - BERNAMA