KUCHING, Oct 3: Sarawak Metro Sdn Bhd (Sarawak Metro) and EMG JV Sdn Bhd recently signed a Certificate of Conformance (COC) to further strengthen the development of the Kuching Urban Transportation System (KUTS) project and realise Sarawak’s aspiration to modernise the city’s public transportation.
According to a press statement, chief executive officer technologist Mazli Mustaffa signed for Sarawak Metro, while EMG JV was represented by one of its directors, Chan Chee Kian.
“The signing of the COC is a follow up from the awarding of the contract in July last year and the signing of the Performance Bond on July 20, 2023,” said the statement.
EMG JV, a joint venture between EPR (Kuching) Sdn Bhd, Mobilus Sdn Bhd, and Global Rail Sdn Bhd, is the main contractor for the System Package 1 of the KUTS project.
The contract involved the supply of the rolling stock, which is the hydrogen-powered Autonomous Rapid Transit (ART) vehicles, depot equipment and maintenance vehicles (DEMV), signalling and control system (S&CS), and the automatic platform gate (APG) was awarded in July last year.
Currently, EMG JV is coordinating the engineering run and Stage 2 of the Proof-of-Concept (POC) exercise for the prototype unit of ART, which began on Sept 4.
The engineering run will be held for two months to refine the specification of the ART unit and to identify any potential issues before proceeding with the POC exercise.
It is also to assess and appraise the performance and functionality of the ART vehicle through the prototype unit.
The route is a loop along Jalan Keruing, passing Menara LCDA, Menara SEDC, Menara Sarawak Energy, and Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) and will end this month.
Stage 2 of the POC exercise will be carried out next month to gather data to evaluate the feasibility of the prototype for the final design of the ART vehicle.
“The POC exercise will be conducted on a 3-kilometre lane built between two roundabouts in Kota Samarahan, along the Kuching-Samarahan Expressway.
“This stretch will form a section of the permanently dedicated lane built for the KUTS project’s Blue Line network covering a distance of 27.5km from Rembus in Kota Samarahan to Kuching city centre.
“Stage 1 of the POC exercise was conducted in March this year at the CRRC Zhuzhou Institute Co Ltd facility in Hunan province, China. CRRC Zhuzhou Institute Co Ltd is the developer of the prototype ART hydrogen vehicle,” said the statement. — DayakDaily
