SYNOPSIS

The Greater Klang Valley, where Kuala Lumpur is situated, currently has an urban population of around 6.3 million. Twenty one percent (21%) of Kuala Lumpur population commutes daily using public transports. It is envisaged that this figure will grow higher when most of the public transport initiatives are completed.

In 2010, the Government launched the Government Transformation Programme (GTP). One of the GTP targets is to increase the use of public transportation, in particular the railway services. The ultimate intention is primarily to reduce the use of private vehicles going into Kuala Lumpur city centre. With this in mind, the Government has planned, implemented and is expected to make further investments by 2020 to realise several major railway projects. Among these projects are the MRT Line 1 and Line 2, Ampang and Kelana Jaya Lines extension. Upon completion, these new lines will help increase the Greater KL ridership to approximately 1.2 million a day.

The Government has also made major investments in improving KTMB network. The electrified double-track project of the 329 km stretch from Ipoh to Padang Besar is due to be completed in 2015. The electrified double-track project for the 129 km stretch from Seremban to Gemas has also been completed. This is an addition to the procurement of 38 new train sets for KTM Komuter service, 10  new ETS 6 car trainsets, construction of 8km Skypark Line and infrastructure enhancement between Subang Jaya and Subang Airport. The railway industry in Malaysia is in a very interesting era. The talk will highlight the on-going and future railway projects in Malaysia.


BIODATA OF SPEAKER

Mr Yuslizar B. Daud, a Chartered Engineer, graduated in Electrical Engineering from University of Aberdeen. He is currently pursuing a MSc. in Railway System Engineering and Integration at University of Birmingham. He has been in the railway industry for 25 years and has developed a field of interest in railway safety, project implementation, feasibility studies, assets renewal and operations including assets maintenance.
He started his career in railway as a graduate at British Railways Board in London in 1990 where he was involved in several projects including the Channel Tunnel power supply reinforcement, Redhill-Tonbridge Line and West London Line electrification. In 1995, he returned to Malaysia to join STAR LRT project until its completion. Two years later, Mr Yuslizar joined Express Rail Link project and was later part of the initial team responsible to set up the ERL Maintenance Support [E-MAS], the operation and maintenance company of the ERL Systems. He returned to the UK in 2005 and was attached to Network Rail where he was involved in a number of traction power supply assets renewal projects such as the renewal of the HV switchgear, high speed DC switchgear, power transformers and rectifiers. In year 2007, Mr Yuslizar joined Transport for London and was attached to the East London Line Project. Upon the completion of the project in 2010, he returned to Malaysia and was attached to KTMB until May 2011. In June 2011, Mr Yuslizar joined Suruhanjaya Pengangkutan Awam Darat [S.P.A.D] as the Head of Rail. His roles include providing the Regulatory Oversight of the MRT Line 1 and 2 projects, LRT Line Extension Projects, LRT3 Project, new rolling stocks & systems, railway operation and assets maintenance. His current passion is to develop Malaysia’s own railway standards. The project is on-going and is expected to be rolled out in not too distant future.