Loke said the public transport operator is targeting to reduce these disruptions to one or two by 2026.

He said there were 118 disruptions in 2023, compared with 255 in 2022, where trains remained stationary for more than five minutes.

“Now, there is one disruption every 200,000km to 400,000km on average. We want to reduce it to one or two disruptions every one million kilometres,” he told reporters here.

Acknowledging that it was an “ambitious” target set by the ministry, Loke said Singapore took five years to achieve this target.

He said the operator will employ “preventive maintenance”, including using artificial intelligence, to curb breakdowns.

Loke said his ministry spent RM177 million on train maintenance in 2024, compared with RM89 million the preceding year.

He also said Prasarana repaired 42 escalators last year, with another seven to be repaired this year.

“This year, the focus is also on improving toilet facilities at LRT and MRT stations,” he said.

Ridership increase

Loke said Prasarana saw an increase in rail and bus ridership from 955,000 in 2023 to 1.18 million daily last year, and is targeting 1.4 million this year.

He said the day with the highest ridership was Dec 31, 2024, which saw 1.54 million passengers.

He also said 900 buses are currently on the road, but the system needs at least 2,000 to 3,000 buses to achieve its maximum potential.

Loke said Prasarana’s on-demand transit van services using e-hailing have also gained traction, with 300 vans to be operational in the Klang Valley by March to address first and last-mile connectivity.

“(A total of) 310 new diesel buses are set to join the fleet in the second quarter of 2025, marking the final batch before the full transition to electric buses by 2037,” he said.

Loke said Prasarana made about 5% of its profits from advertisements, and that it will also seek revenue from corporate sponsorship.

“The transport industry will continue to be subsidised by the government. Our aim is to provide reliable transport,” he said.