Rapid KL (brand)
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| Overview | |||
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| Owner | Prasarana Malaysia | ||
| Locale | Klang Valley, Malaysia | ||
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| Website | myrapid |
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| Operation | |||
| Began operation | 16 December 1995 | ||
| Operator(s) | Rapid Rail & Rapid Bus | ||
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| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) | ||
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Greater KL / Klang Valley Integrated Transit Map
Source: SPAD as at July 2016
Rapid KL (styled as rapidKL; ) is a service brand used by Prasarana Malaysia subsidiaries companies to refer the public transportation services dedicated for Kuala Lumpur and Klang Valley area. It is acronym for Rangkaian Pengangkutan Intergrasi Deras Kuala Lumpur. The service brand name used by Rapid Rail on LRT & monorail services and Rapid Bus on BRT & stage bus services.
The need for Kuala Lumpur's public transport system to be revamped 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 (STAR-LRT) and Projek Usahasama Transit Ringan Automatik Sdn Bhd (PUTRA-LRT), could not repay their commercial loans. The financial crisis of 1997/1998 aggravated the situation. The two companies owed a total of RM5.7bil as at November 2001 when the government's Corporate Debt Restructuring Committee (CDRC) 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 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 Komposit and Cityliner - began facing financial problems. Intrakota had reportedly accumulated losses amounting to RM450mil from the 1997/1998 financial crisis until SPNB took over in 2003.
With lower revenue, the bus operators could not maintain their fleets, much less invest in more buses. Frequencies and service deteriorated as buses began breaking down.
Public transport usage in the Klang Valley area dropped to about 16% of all total trips.
Since taking over the LRTs and bus network, Prasarana has taken steps to improve their service.
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Wikipedia