KUALA LUMPUR: Daily ridership for the MRT Sungai Buloh-Kajang Line (MRT SBK) has surpassed the 140,000 mark with Saturday’s figures registering a total of 142,313 passengers.
Expressing his delight, Rapid Rail Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Datuk Zohari Sulaiman, hoped that Malaysians especially those living in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor would continue to make public transport as their preferred mode of transportation into the city.
“The statistics are actually even more flattering as normally, daily ridership is highest on weekdays when people are working.
“In this case, we have 142,313 on a weekend, on Saturday and, looking at the report from my staff on ground, we should be having a very high ridership today as well,” Zohari said in a statement today.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had announced free rides between Kajang and Muzium Negara when launching the second phase of the MRT SBK Line last Monday, which Zohari said had contributed to a ridership of about 100,000 for that particular day.
Najib has also announced a 50 per cent discount on fares to those traveling with the MRT and Rapid KL’s other rail services – the Kelana Jaya LRT Line, Ampang LRT Line, Sri Petaling LRT Line and the Monorail service until Merdeka Day.
“We recorded a daily ridership of 90,409 a day after the launching on July 18; 96,887 on July 19; 95,009 (July 20); and we broke the 100,000 mark on Friday with a daily ridership of 110,782.
“Yesterday, the ridership stood at 142,313 passengers,” he said.
Zohari also expressed gratitude to the commuters for their support and hoped that they would continue to use Rapid Rail public transport network.
Phase 1 between Sungai Buloh and Semantan was launched by Najib Dec 15 last year had operated with an average daily ridership of 15,000 passengers when it was first launched.