Kelana Jaya Line

The Kelana Jaya Line is one of the three rail transit lines operated by Rapid Rail network.

The Kelana Jaya Line was formerly known as PUTRA LRT, "PUTRA" standing for Projek Usahasama Transit Ringan Automatik Sdn Bhd, the company which developed and operated it, now owned by Syarikat Prasarana Negara Berhad (Prasarana).

On 28 November 2011, the Kelana Jaya Line and the Ampang Line were integrated with a single ticketing system, allowing transfer at Masjid Jamek station without the need to buy a new ticket.

History
The first operation commenced on 1 September 1998 between Subang Depot and Pasar Seni, with phase two, Pasar Seni to Terminal Putra, in June 1999.

In 2002, the line carried its 150 millionth passenger, with an average of 160,000 passengers daily. Today, it carries over 190,000 passengers a day and over 350,000 a day during national events.

The line will undergo a 17 km extension with construction expected to commence in early 2010 through 2012. With 13 new stations to the line, the new terminus will be at Putra Heights, extended from Kelana Jaya.

Chronology

 * 15 February 1994 - Projek Usahasama Transit Ringan Automatik (Putra LRT) was incorporated.
 * 1 September 1998 - Section 1 from Subang Depot to Pasar Seni commenced operation.
 * 1 June 1999 - Section 2 from Pasar Seni to Terminal Putra commenced operation. The new section included Malaysia's first underground railway.
 * 1 September 2002 - Putra LRT comes under management of Syarikat Prasarana Negara and renamed Putraline under the first phase of the restructuring of Kuala Lumpur's public transport system. Prasarana also takes over Star LRT and is renamed Starline.
 * November 2004 - Operational aspects of the two lines is transferred to the new government-owned Rapid KL under the second phase of the restructuring process. Ownership of their assets remains with Syarikat Prasarana Negara.
 * July 2005 - Name changed from Putraline to Kelana Jaya Line. Signage to be changed by 2006.
 * 24 July 2006 - Failure of the back-up computer to kick in caused the line to stop functioning during the evening rush hour. Passengers were trapped in trains and some had to force open doors to get out.
 * 29 August 2006 - Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak announces that this line will be extended from Lembah Subang to Subang Jaya and USJ.
 * 6 October 2006 - A "technical problem" caused a train to stall between Dato Keramat and Damai at 7am, causing a shut-down of the Masjid Jamek-Terminal PUTRA stretch. Normal service restored at 5pm.
 * 13 October 2006 – Prasarana signed an agreement with Bombardier-Hartasuma Consortium (BHC)for the purchase of 22 four-car sets with an option of an additional 13 train sets for RM1.2 billion. Trains were targeted to be delivered in 2008.
 * 12 December 2006 - An accident occurred during a peak hour as a train was approaching Pasar Seni LRT station. The train stopped abruptly as if it hit something. No casualties occurred.
 * 8 October 2007 – Prasarana purchased an additional 13 Advanced Rapid Transit (ART) MK II train sets (52 cars) for €71 million. Delivery was expected in 2010.
 * 27 July 2009 - Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak announced that 35 new four-car trains will be operational by end-2012.
 * 15 September 2009 – Syarikat Prasarana Negara begins a 3-month public display of the proposed alignment of the extension (and the Ampang Line extension) for feedback.
 * October 2009 - Test runs for the new four-car trains begin. Passengers were not allowed to board these trains.
 * 30 December 2009 - Three four-car trains officially begin service, while the remaining 32 four-car trains will be gradually introduced into service through April 2011.
 * 24 December 2010 - Sri Rampai opens.
 * 28 November 2011 - Kelana Jaya and Ampang - Sri Petaling Line integrated with a single ticketing system.

Line and stations
The line runs from Kelana Jaya to Gombak, serving the Petaling Jaya region to the south; southwest and central Kuala Lumpur, and Kuala Lumpur City Centre to the centre; and ow density residential areas further north. At 29 km in length, it is the fourth longest fully automated driverless metro system in the world, after Dubai Metro in Dubai(74.6 km), the SkyTrain in Greater Vancouver, Canada (68.7 km) and the Lille Metro VAL in Lille, France (32 km).

The stations are given in a north-south direction, consists primarily of elevated stops and a handful of underground and at-grade stations. Of the 24 stations, 18 are elevated, 1 lies on the ground and 5 stops, Masjid Jamek, Dangi Wangi,  Kampung Baru,  KLCC and Ampang Park are underground. A new station is Sri Rampai.

The stations, like those of the Ampang Line, are styled in several types of architectural designs. Elevated stations, in most parts, were constructed in four major styles with distinctive roof designs for specific portions of the line. KL Sentral station, added later, features a design more consistent with the Stesen Sentral station building. Underground stations, however, tend to feature unique concourse layout and vestibules, and feature floor-to-ceiling platform screen doors to prevent platform-to-track intrusions. 13 stations (including two terminal stations and the five subway stations) utilise a single island platform, while 11 others utilize two side platforms. Stations with island platforms allow easy interchange between north-bound and south-bound trains without requiring one to walk down/up to the concourse level.

The stations were built to support disabled passengers, with elevators and wheelchair lifts alongside escalators and stairways between the levels. The stations have platform gaps smaller than 5 cm to allow easy access for the disabled and wheelchair users. They are able to achieve this with:
 * Tracks that are non-ballasted, lessening rail and train movements.
 * Trains that have direct rubber suspension, lessening train body movements.
 * Trains that do not rapidly run through stations.
 * Stations that have straight platforms.

The stations are currently the only rapid transit stations in the Klang Valley designed to provide a degree of accessibility for handicapped users.

The stations have closed-circuit security cameras for security purposes.

Rolling stock
The rolling stock, in use since the opening of the line in 1998, consists of 35 Mark II Bombardier Advanced Rapid Transit (ART) trains with related equipment and services supplied by the Bombardier Group. They consist of two-electric multiple units, which serve as either a driving car or trailer car depending on its direction of travel. The trains utilise linear motors and draw power from a third rail located at the side of the steel rails. The plating in between the running rails is used for accelerating and decelerating the train. The reaction plate is semi-magnetised, which pulls the train along as well as helps it to slow down.

The ART is essentially driverless, automated to travel along lines and stop at designated stations for a limited amount of time. Nevertheless, manual override control panels are provided at each end of the trains for use in an event of an emergency.

The interior of the ART, like its Ampang Line counterparts, consists of plastic seating aligned sideways towards the sides of the train, with spacing for passengers on wheelchair, and spacing in the middle for standing occupants. Since its launch in 1998, the ART rolling stock has remained relatively unchanged; only more holding straps have been added and the labeling has been modified from Putra-LRT to RapidKL. Some of the rolling stock has the majority of the seats removed for added passenger capacity during rush hours.

On 13 October 2006, Syarikat Prasarana Negara signed an agreement with Bombardier Hartasuma Consortium for the purchase of 88 Mark II ART cars (22 train sets of 4-cars) with an option for another 13 for RM1.2 billion. The 22 train sets, initially targeted to be delivered from August 2008 onwards, will have four cars each and will boost the carrying capacity of the fleet by 1,500 people. On 8 October 2007, Syarikat Prasarana Negara exercised its option to purchase an additional 52 Mark II ART cars (13 train sets of 4-cars) for €71 million, expected to be delivered in 2010.

Although the trains were expected to arrive in August 2008, the delivery was delayed to November 2008 by the manufacturer. RapidKL said that the trains will only be usable by September 2009 after having sufficient rolling stocks, power line upgrades and safety testing. Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat has said in Parliament that the new trains will begin operations by December 2009. However, in July 2009, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak announced that the four-car trains will only be fully operational by end-2012.

On 30 December 2009, 3 of the 35 new four-car trains entered commercial service. New features other than increased capacity up to 950 passengers per trip are seat belts for wheel-chair bound travelers, door alarm lights for hearing impaired and more handles for standing commuters.

Extensions
On 29 August 2006, Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Mohd Najib Abdul Razak announced that the western end would be extended to the suburbs of Subang Jaya such as UEP Subang Jaya (USJ) and Putra Heights to the south-west of Kuala Lumpur. The extension will be part of a RM10 billion plan to expand Kuala Lumpur's public transport network.

The expansion plan will also see the Ampang Line extended to the suburbs of Puchong and the south-west of Kuala Lumpur The plan also involved the construction of an entirely new line, tentatively called the Kota Damansara-Cheras Line, running from Kota Damansara in the western portion of the city, to Cheras which lies to the south-east of Kuala Lumpur.

As of August 2008, Syarikat Prasarana Negara was reportedly running land and engineering studies for the proposed extension.

In September 2009, Syarikat Prasarana Negara began displaying the alignment of the proposed extensions over a 3-month period for feedback. The Kelana Jaya extension will see 13 new stations over 17 km from Kelana Jaya to Putra Heights. Construction is expected to commence in early-2010.

On November 2010, Prasarana announced that it has awarded RM1.7 billion for first phase of the project. The winners include Trans Resource Corp Bhd for the Kelana Jaya line extension. UEM Builders Bhd and Intria Bina Sdn Bhd were appointed as subcontractors for the fabrication and supply of segmental box girder jobs for the Kelana Jaya line.

Construction works on the Kelana Jaya Line and the Ampang Line Extension project are targeted to escalate at the end of March, with commencement of structural works, subject to approval from state government and local authorities.

Route Maps

 * Route search - Interactive transport guide of Kuala Lumpur public transport system
 * Train Journey Planner & Fare Calculator from thepricechat.com
 * Route Map from malaysiaexpat.com
 * Route Map from ktmb.com.my
 * Route Map from prasarana.com.my
 * Route Map from stesensentral.com