THE average daily weekday passenger trips on the Putrajaya Mass Rail Transit (MRT2) Line have increased by 305%, the Transport Ministry said.

Minister Anthony Loke said the number of trips increased from 23,000 in Phase 1 to 93,000 passenger trips per day in Phase 2.

“The operation of the first phase of the Putrajaya Line, which stretches from Kwasa Damansara station to Kampung Baru station, started on June 16 last year, followed by Phase 2 on March 16 this year,” he said during a question and answer session at Dewan Negara today.

Loke was replying to Senator Mohd Hisamudin Yahaya’s question on the ministry’s plan to encourage more users to use the RM30.53 billion Putrajaya MRT Line.

He said RapidKL will also provide feeder buses around Putrajaya to promote the use of MRT2, which includes five routes, such as the route from Putrajaya Sentral MRT station to Precinct 10, Precinct 16, Precinct 4, Precinct 11, and Ayer 8.

Loke said the average daily weekday ridership for the five routes from March to June 25 this year was 706 passenger trips and was expected to increase further based on the current trend in ridership.

By the fourth quarter, passenger numbers are expected to increase further as new trains are deployed on the Kelana Jaya line and when repair work on the cracked structure of the Ampang line is fully completed.

“The ministry, through Prasarana, will continue to improve public transport services and invest in rail and bus infrastructure as needed to promote the transition to a more comfortable, safer and lower-carbon public transport system,” he said.

In addition, the MY50 Unlimited Travel Pass for rail and bus services will continue as the government’s plan to promote the use of public transport, he added.

Meanwhile, he said the average number of passengers using the Rapid Rail service on weekdays has increased by more than 21%. This is 746,000 passengers in June compared with 613,000 in January.            

He said the services include the Light Rail Transit Ampang Line, Kelana Jaya Line LRT, Monorail Line, Kajang MRT Line and Putrajaya MRT. – Bernama, June 27, 2023.