No more diesel bus orders for Prasarana after March, says Loke

No more diesel bus orders for Prasarana after March, says Loke

Transport minister Loke Siew Fook says Prasarana should only consider electric options when procuring buses moving forward.

Transport minister Loke Siew Fook said the shift to electric buses was in line with the country’s transport policy.
KUALA LUMPUR:
Prasarana Malaysia Bhd will no longer place orders for diesel-fuelled buses as part of efforts to increase the use of electric buses.

Transport minister Loke Siew Fook said the final batch of diesel buses would be delivered in the first quarter of 2025 after the procurement tender award by March this year.

“About 60% of the buses purchased are mini buses. This will be the final batch of diesel buses. After this, tenders should focus on electric vehicles (EVs),” he said after presenting Prasarana’s 2023 performance report and its 2024 plan.

“This is in line with our national policy towards the adoption of EVs.”

Adopting EVs is part of the country’s National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR).

Rapid Bus, a Prasarana subsidiary, previously set a target for 30% of its fleet to be fully electric by 2030, with the ultimate goal of achieving 100% electric buses by 2050. It aims to start with an electric bus fleet of 4% by 2024, scaling up to 100 units by 2026.

In tabling the 2024 budget, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Prasarana agreed to procure 150 electric buses and construct three bus depots at a cost of RM600 million to support the needs of the LRT3 project.

Stay current - Follow FMT on WhatsApp, Google news and Telegram

Subscribe to our newsletter and get news delivered to your mailbox.