IN conjunction with the United Kingdom-Malaysia Urban Scoping Workshop held by the British High Commission Kuala Lumpur, 7 delegates from Malaysia and the United Kingdom visited the MRT Project on 23 February 2017.

The delegates were part of the Newton-Ungku Omar Fund. This fund promotes the economic development via the British High Commission and Malaysian government. It aims to strengthen science and innovation capacity to unlock further funding to support poverty alleviation.

The trip was part of a visit to various Malaysian projects to solve urban challenges and how public transportation helps to mitigate the issue.

Malaysia Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp) Sungai Buloh-Kajang (SBK) Line Project Director Mr Marcus Karakashian, gave a short briefing to the delegates at Wisma MRT. Here, he talked about the importance of the MRT system for people in the Klang Valley and how it will help minimise the increasingly high number of cars in the area.

After Marcus’ briefing, the delegates then headed to the Cochrane Station.

Upon arrival at the station, Marcus brought the delegates to a walkabout of the station. The depth of the station is at 25 meters below ground. One of the items highlighted was the ways to purchase tickets at the station. Passengers can either use the automated ticketed vending machines or customer service office to purchase them.

Led by British High Commission Kuala Lumpur Newton – Ungku Omar Fund Strategic Manager, Puan Izza Ismail, the delegates then were brought to the Taman Midah Station to gain further understanding about an elevated MRT station. This station is still undergoing final construction works but is on schedule to fully operate by July 2017.

Next on the itinerary was a visit to the Semantan Station and the delegates managed to catch a ride on the MRT train. The route that they took was to the Phileo Damansara Station.

Features of the automated platform gates that have been installed at the platform was mentioned. The gates will only open when the train has arrived at the station. This is a safety feature that is present at MRT elevated stations.

The visit ended with a train ride returning to the Semantan Station.