Malaysia Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp) and Rapid Rail Sdn Bhd have signed the MRT Handing Over and Operating Agreement on 30 June 2016.

The agreement formally appoints Rapid Rail, a subsidiary of Prasarana Malaysia Bhd (Prasarana) as the operator for the MRT Sungai Buloh-Kajang (SBK) Line.

In addition to the operation requirements for the SBK Line, the agreement also includes the maintenance of the rolling stock, stations, systems and other assets, under the obligations of Rapid Rail.

The exchanged of documents, which was witnessed by the Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak, were carried out during the launch of the LRT Kelana Jaya Line and LRT Ampang Line extensions at the LRT Putra Heights Station.

MRT Corp was represented by its Chief Executive Officer Dato’ Sri Shahril Mokhtar while representing Rapid Rail was Prasarana President & Group Chief Executive Officer Dato’ Azmi Aziz.

Shahril said this was a historic moment for MRT Corp as it signaled the transformation of the SBK Line as a project that was under construction towards an operational MRT line.

The Government had earlier decided that Prasarana, or its subsidiary, would be the operator for the SBK Line. This was to ensure a complete integration of the MRT service with the existing light rail transit (LRT) and monorail services currently operated by Rapid Rail.

Under the agreement, Rapid Rail is appointed as the operator for a term of ten years, with an option of an extension of a further five years.

Rapid Rail will operate the MRT line and retain all fares collected, while MRT Corp will retain non-fare revenue, such as revenue from advertising and retail leasing. The fares will be set by the Suruhanjaya Pengangkutan Awam Darat (SPAD).

Rapid Rail will also be responsible for maintaining the assets. However major refurbishing costs will be borne by MRT Corp as the asset owner.

The feeder bus, which will provide first and last-mile connectivity to the MRT network, will be operated by Prasarana.

The first phase of the SBK Line – between the Sungai Buloh Station and the Semantan Station – will begin operations in December 2016, with the second stage of operations covering the rest of the line to commence in July 2017. In view of this, the handover by MRT Corp to Rapid Rail will be carried out in two stages in accordance with the two operations dates.