PETALING JAYA (Dec 24): Prasarana Malaysia Bhd, owner and operator of the light rail transit (LRT) system in the Klang Valley, will receive its first six-car train for the upgrade of the LRT Ampang Line this Saturday.

In a statement, Prasarana said the first of 50 sets acquired from CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Co was shipped from Shanghai on Dec 5 and is on its way to Port Klang.

The 50 sets of new coaches include 20 six-car trains for the LRT line extension project.

Prasarana Project Development group director Datuk Zohari Sulaiman said the train would be transported to the company’s Ampang Line depot, where it would undergo internal inspection after which testing and commissioning procedures would commence.

However, he said the testing and commissioning procedures would take considerable time.

Testing and commissioning will start a week after the arrival of the six-car train at the depot, taking into account the time needed for clearance by the Royal Customs Department and unloading processes.

“The works will start with the routine static and dynamic test, before we carry out the static and dynamic type test for the light rail vehicle (LRV),” he said.

“Then, we will commence with the integration test with the systems,” he added.

Zohari said delivery of the second coach is targeted to be completed by the middle of next month and the third coach by the middle of March next year.

“Under our arrangement with the manufacturer, the first 35 trains would be delivered as CBU (complete-built units) from China,” Zohari said.

“The last 15 will be locally assembled at the CSR Zhuzhou plant in Batu Gajah so as to meet the local content requirement,” he added. Zohari said for the first coach, the testing and commissioning should take between four to five months, reducing to three months for subsequent coaches.

The new train sets, which meet the latest international safety standards, are equipped with access features including six compartments for wheelchairs.

It also allows commuters to walk from one end of the train to another as the new Ampang trains are equipped with a walkthrough gangway.

Under the LRT extension project, the existing Ampang and Kelana Jaya LRT lines will be extended to an integrated station in Putra Heights.

For the Ampang line, the extended line would run for 18.1km with 11 new stations, with the first four stations – Awan Besar, Muhibbah, Alam Sutera and Kinrara BK5 – to be opened at the end of October next year.

The LRT Ampang Line currently serves some 200,000 passengers daily. The upgrade of the LRT Kelana Jaya line, which involved purchase of the new coaches, started in 2009.