KUALA LUMPUR: Beginning Thursday, commuters using the Rapid KL LRT Ampang Line can travel directly from the Ampang station to Sentul Timur without having to change trains at the Chan Sow Lin station.

The direct travel is being made possible following completion of the upgrading of the signalling system, or technically termed as the Communication- Based Train Control (CBTC), for the entire Ampang and Sri Petaling Line for usage of the new six-car AMY trains.

“Beginning Dec 1, the entire Sri Petaling and Ampang Lines will use the new six-car AMY trains. The Adtranz trains in use since 1996 and serving the Ampang Line now will be completely decommissioned,” Rapid Rail chief executive officer Datuk Zohari Sulaiman said in a statement today.

A subsidiary of Prasarana, Rapid Rail is the operator of Rapid KL’s LRT Ampang Line, LRT Sri Petaling Line, LRT Kelana Jaya Line, the Monorail Line and the MRT Sungai Buloh-Kajang Line, which will open its Phase 1 between Sungai Buloh and Semantan on Dec 16.

Prasarana has acquired a total of 50 new six-car trains from CRRC Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive, China, to serve the LRT Ampang and Sri Petaling Lines including the 11 new stations built under the LRT Line Extension Project (LEP).

So far, 45 train sets have already been delivered to Rapid Rail with the remaining five sets currently being assembled at the CRRC plant in Batu Gajah, Perak, and due for delivery in stages by January next year.

– Bernama