Prasarana Malaysia


Prasarana Malaysia Berhad is a government-owned company which was set up by Ministry of Finance as a corporate body established under the Minister of Finance Act 1957 to own the assets of multi-modal public transport operator in Malaysia, under the government's move to restructure the city's public transport system. It is one of the largest public-transport companies in Malaysia other than Konsortium Transnasional Berhad. As a government-owned company since 1998, it operates stage bus and light metro services via several wholly owned subsidiaries.

Subsidiaries

The new Prasarana structure including the creation of four new entities – Rapid Rail Sdn Bhd; Rapid Bus Sdn Bhd; Prasarana Integrated Management and Engineering Services Sdn Bhd ; and Prasarana Integrated Development Sdn Bhd.

Service brand

Prasarana's primary business is providing public-transport services in Malaysia. Its main operations are the following:
  • Rapid Bus Sdn Bhd – Rapid KL buses operate in Klang Valley and Selangor, providing services for more than 200 routes including routes to support the operations of its sister company Rapid Rail Sdn Bhd. As reflected by their names, Rapid Penang operates in the island of Penang and Butterworth; covering 46 routes. Rapid Kuantan, which commenced operations on 1 December 2012, currently services a total of 12 routes around the state capital of Pahang.
  • Rapid Rail Sdn Bhd – operates the operational 114 stations along the LRT Ampang and Sri Petaling Lines, LRT Kelana Jaya Line, KL Monorail, MRT Kajang Line and Putrajaya Line network in Kuala Lumpur under brand name of Rapid KL.
  • Prasarana Integrated Development Sdn Bhd – being in the transport infrastructural development sector to tap and maximise on the economic potential of its government-assigned land banks and real estate of Prasarana owned several properties in the form of train stations, depot and Park-n-Ride facilities for commuters.
  • Prasarana Integrated Management & Engineering Services Sdn Bhd – developing and managing Rapid Rail Sdn Bhd infrastructure and facilities; rolling stocks; wayside systems; applied systems; bus infrastructure and systems; works contract; project governance; business development; and project safety and health management.

    International Presence

  • Awarded as shadow operator of Al Mashaaer Al Mugaddassah Metro Southern Line since November 2014 to 2017.

    Station naming rights program

In an effort to increase revenue beyond advertising and fare collection, Prasarana Malaysia Berhad has introduced a new "station naming rights program", in which brands and companies will bid for a chance to rename and rebrand any selected stations owned by Prasarana for a fee. This program runs in tandem with the infrastructure plan to promote the use of public transport and to improve facilities and services through the rebranding and upgrading of the stations.
GGICO is example of the first project in the world to start the similar program. This step has been followed by Vodafone–Sol and Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center.
The prefix name of the station will be given to the successful bidder and the bidder has a right on the elements around the stations such as station area, route maps, pamphlets and brochures, operator website and also the train destination announcement. According to the source of Prasarana Malaysia, the original name of the station is fixed to indicate the location of the station.
First of its kind in Southeast Asia, the first three pilot projects on LRT and monorail stations have been accomplished, namely the AirAsia-Bukit Bintang Monorail station, Bank Rakyat-Bangsar LRT station and KL Gateway-Universiti LRT station has been launched on 10 October 2015. KL Gateway is the major redevelopment of Kampung Kerinchi into premium residential, shopping mall & office tower by Suez Capital, a local property development.
On 1 May 2017, the CGC-Glenmarie LRT station became the fourth station renamed under the Station Naming Rights programme.
On 11 July 2017, a week before the launching of the MRT Sungai Buloh-Kajang Line Phase 2 operations, another four stations joined under the programme, namely Pavilion Damansara Heights-Pusat Bandar Damansara, Manulife-Semantan, Pavilion Kuala Lumpur-Bukit Bintang and AEON-Maluri.
On 29 May 2023, the KL Sentral LRT station was renamed as KL Sentral redONE in a five-year deal with redONE Network Sdn Bhd.

Extension projects

Kuala Lumpur Light Rail Transit Line 3 (LRT3) project

The LRT3 project currently under construction is Shah Alam Line which will cover the western area of Klang Valley.

Kuala Lumpur Additional Vehicle (KLAV) project

The KLAV project will minimize Kelana Jaya Line headway frequency not more than 2.8 minutes when fully deploy a new additional order of 14 Bombardier Innovia Metro ART 300 in configuration of 4-car trainsets January 2016.

Monorail fleet expansion project

Prasarana has awarded the contract to Scomi Transit Projects Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Scomi Engineering Bhd. Valued at approximately RM494 million, the contract also included upgrading works on the monorail stations and the electrical and mechanical system and building a new monorail depot apart from the supply of the 12 sets of new 4-car trainsets. Currently, only 6 trainsets has been delivered to Rapid Rail, therefore the operator is unable to activate the automatic platform gates & to phase-out the old 2-car trainsets.

BRT Sunway Line project

The one and only first of its kind Bus rapid transit project in Malaysia is BRT Sunway Line. Launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Razak on 9 June 2012, the BRT Sunway Line is a public-private partnership project between Prasarana and Sunway Group to provide eco-friendly electric bus services on elevated tracks for residents in Bandar Sunway and Subang Jaya.

Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit project

The Government has set up a dedicated unit focused solely on Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit project namely Mass Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd. The MRT Corp is a project management and technical team comprising experts in mass rail projects and include expertise seconded from the Prasarana MRT team.

History

Restructuring Klang Valley's public transport system

The need for the Klang Valley's public transport system to be restructured became apparent almost immediately after the LRT lines began commercial operations when their ridership was much lower than anticipated. This caused lower than expected revenue levels and the two LRT concessionaires, Sistem Transit Aliran Ringan Sdn Bhd and Projek Usahasama Transit Ringan Automatik Sdn Bhd, could not repay their commercial loans. The 1997 Asian financial crisis aggravated the situation. The two companies owed a total of RM5.7bil as at November 2001 when the government's Corporate Debt Restructuring Committee restructured the debts of the two LRT companies.
The bus service in Kuala Lumpur was also facing problems with lower ridership because of an increase in private car usage and the lack of capital investments. The two new bus consortia which were formed in the mid-1990s to take over all bus services in Kuala Lumpur – Intrakota and Cityliner – began facing financial problems. Intrakota had reportedly accumulated losses amounting to RM450 million from the 1997 Asian financial crisis until Prasarana took over in 2003, and debts of more than RM250 million between 1994 and 2003. With lower revenues, bus operators could not maintain their fleets, much less invest in more buses. Frequencies and service deteriorated as buses began breaking down.
Because of this, public transport usage in the Klang Valley area dropped to about 16% of total trips, one of the lowest in the Asian region.

Setting up of Syarikat Prasarana Negara Berhad and Rangkaian Pengangkutan Intergrasi Deras Sdn Bhd

As part of the restructuring process, the Malaysian government proposed to separate the ownership and operational aspects of public transport, with separate government-owned companies being set up for each purpose.
In 1998, Prasarana was incorporated to "facilitate, coordinate, undertake and expedite infrastructure projects approved by the Malaysian government". It took over the assets and operations of Star-LRT, Putra-LRT and Putraline feeder bus services in September 2002, changing the name Star-LRT to "Starline" and Putra-LRT to "Putraline". In 2003, Prasarana entered into agreements with Intrakota and Cityliner for the purchase of buses. The purchase was completed in 2004.
Rangkaian Pengangkutan Intergrasi Deras Sdn Bhd, the second government-owned company under the restructuring, was set up in 2004 to handle the operational aspects of the assets owned by Prasarana. Prasarana handed over the operations of the two LRT lines and buses in November 2004.
In 2006, the government set up a new company Rapid Penang as a subsidiary of Rangkaian Pengangkutan Intergrasi Deras Sdn Bhd to operate a bus service in Penang. The buses are also owned by Prasarana.

Taking over of assets

Projek Usahasama Transit Ringan Automatik Sdn Bhd (Putra-LRT)

Putra-LRT was incorporated in Malaysia on 15 February 1994 to design, construct, finance, operate and maintain the Klang Valley's LRT system, known today as the Kelana Jaya Line. The company, which was 100% owned by Renong Berhad, signed the concession agreement with the Malaysian government on 7 August 1995. To fund the project, Putra-LRT obtained a RM2 billion loan, comprising RM1 billion conventional facility and RM1 billion Islamic facility, from 27 Malaysian financial and non-financial institutions which was arranged by four major Malaysian financial institutions, namely Commerce International Merchant Bankers Bhd, Bank Bumiputra Malaysia Bhd, Commerce MGI Sdn Bhd and Bank Islam. The 27 institutions included the KWSP, Affin Bank and Public Bank.
The takeover of Putra-LRT can be said to have started from 30 September 1999 when the payment of interest amounting to RM44,589,020.33 became due. Failure to pay resulted in the entire loan amount becoming due. At that time, Putra-LRT had already requested the Corporate Debt Restructuring Committee of Malaysia's central bank, Bank Negara, to help restructure its debts. A proposal by the Corporate Debt Restructuring Committee, which involved the government taking over the two LRT lines and then leasing them back to the two companies, was deemed not acceptable.
The restructuring began moving again when the government accepted the concept of setting up two separate government-owned companies, one to own and the other to operate public transport. The first step towards nationalisation of Putra-LRT took place on 26 November 2001 when Prasarana acquired all the rights, benefits and entitlements under the loan from Putra-LRT's and also Star-LRT's lenders. This effectively made Prasarana the creditor of Putra-LRT and Star-LRT. The loans owed by both companies stood at approximately RM5.7 billion at that time. The purchase consideration was satisfied via the issuance of RM5.468 billion fixed rate serial bonds by Prasarana guaranteed by the government to the respective Star-LRT and Putra-LRT lenders. According to the Corporate Debt Restructuring Committee, the successful resolution of the debt restructuring of the two companies was estimated to have reduced the level of non-performing loans in the Malaysian banking system by RM2.9 billion or 0.7% on a net six-month basis. Commerce International Merchant Bankers Bhd was appointed as was appointed as facility agent.
On 8 December 2001, Prasarana issued Putra-LRT with a notice of default and demanded payment of all outstanding amounts within 14 days. Putra-LRT replied on 24 December 2001 and informed Prasarana that it was not able to settle the amounts. It also requested the government to appoint another party or itself to purchase the assets of the company in accordance with the terms of the concession agreement between Putra-LRT and the government. A statutory demand, required under the Malaysian Companies Act 1965, was then issued by Prasarana on 26 December 2001 asking Putra-LRT to settle the amount owing within 21 days. Putra-LRT again replied on 17 January 2002 by saying that it was unable to settle the amounts owed and requested the government to take over. Winding up petitions were filed on 8 February 2002 and served on the company on 20 March 2002. On 26 April 2002, the Kuala Lumpur High Court made an order for the winding up of Putra-LRT and on the same date, appointed the Gan Ah Tee, Ooi Woon Chee and Mohamed Raslan Bin Abdul Rahman as liquidators. Earlier on 3 April 2002, the Malaysia Ministry of Finance had officially announced that the government via Prasarana was taking over the assets of both Putra-LRT and Star-LRT.
On 30 August 2002, Putra-LRT entered into a sale and purchase agreement with Prasarana for the sale of all its assets. The consideration for the sale consisted of the balance after the project cost of RM5,246,070,539 is offset by the amount of debt owed to Prasarana, plus the project cost from 1 April 2002 until 1 September 2002 which was set as the completion date of the sale, plus a sum of RM16,867,910 being the "unverified amount of project costs" which was subsequently verified by supporting documents. The entire cost of Prasarana taking over Putra-LRT's assets was reported to be RM4.5 billion.
Prasarana took over Putra-LRT assets and operations from 6.00 a.m. on 1 September 2002.