The week beginning Nov 26 was a very interesting week for public transportation in Malaysia. On that day, Scomi Rail Bhd part of the Scomi Group, unveiled the second generation monorail design. The Scomi Urban Transit Rail Application (Sutra) design should be a significant improvement on the original one. Scomi claims that the trains are larger, wider, lighter, faster and more energy-efficient.

But we will have to wait and see how successful the Scomi Sutra design is. Unfortunately, this is where the problem lies. Malaysians are expected to keep waiting for improvements to public transportation. Public buses are still blocking traffic in our cities, with their engines running and doors open as they wait for passengers. The RapidKL bus system has shown some improvements but buses are still expected to fight traffic instead of using their own bus lanes.

There is still no public transportation organisation at regional and local levels. The government has not considered introducing a Bus Rapid Transit system, preferring to concentrate on monorails and LRT. The proposed KL Monorail extensions have not taken place and there is little or no information about the proposed LRT line and extensions. The KTM Komuter service extension from Sentul to Batu Caves is under construction, but KTMB still needs to double the Komuter fleet in order to make a serious difference.

While the government seems to be sitting and waiting, the price of oil has reached record levels and is expected to increase. The government has also made it clear that petrol, energy and gas rates are set to increase next year.

To make a difference in Kuala Lumpur’s public transport, there are three necessary steps that can be taken. Firstly, complete the government takeover of the KL monorail and integrate the monorail with the RapidKL LRT and bus system. Secondly, a more modern train design must be introduced. And finally, return to the original design and extend the KL Monorail past KL Sentral and from Midvalley City to Kampung Pasir.

I was hoping that the government would use the launch of the Scomi Sutra monorail to make three announcements. Firstly, the government’s takeover of the KL Monorail. Secondly, that the government was ready to purchase new Sutra monorail carriages to expand the KL Monorail service. Thirdly, I was hoping they would announce the extension of the KL Monorail to Midvalley.

No such announcements were made on Nov 26 but the government did announce on Nov 29 that they had completed a purchase and sale agreement between KL Infrastructure Group and Prasarana, allowing Prasarana to take over the operations of the KL Monorail. Perhaps the government wanted to reserve that day for Scomi, rather than take away their thunder by announcing the improvements to the KL Monorail system. Does this mean that they are going to make two more announcements over the next few weeks?

Can KL residents finally start anticipating improvements to the KL Monorail system, including larger trains, higher service frequency and the long-awaited extension past Midvalley City? One can only hope that the Scomi Sutra monorail design and the new RapidKL Monorail service will soon lead to significant improvements for urban public transit in Malaysia. We have waited too long for improvements and time is running out.