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Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced today (Mar. 16) that all rides on the newly launched Mass Rapid Transit Putrajaya Line (MRT2) will be free of charge until Mar. 31, Malaysiakini reported.

Commuters will be entitled to free rides on the new line starting from today, according to Anwar.

The line will commence operations at 3pm, The Star reported.

Besides free MRT rides, free feeder bus services to the line's stations will also be available until Mar. 31.

Phase Two opening

The Putrajaya line has a total of 36 operational stations. 27 of these are located overground while the rest are underground.

It is the second MRT line in the whole of Malaysia and it is fully automated and driverless, the Malay Mail reported.

The first phase of the Putrajaya line, spanning Kwasa Damansara station to Kampung Batu station, began operations on Jun. 16, 2022, according to the MRT website.

With the launch of the second phase, the line will connect Kampung Batu station to Putrajaya Sentral station.

Riding the whole 57.7km route of the Putrajaya line will take 84 minutes, according to an earlier report by The Star.

Information for commuters

According to the rail operator Rapid Rail's chief operating officer Ramli Shafie who was quoted by The Star, there will be 49 four-car trains that operate daily from 6am until midnight.

Each train has a passenger capacity of 1,200. Commuters can expect a train frequency of five to seven minutes during peak hours and 10 to 15 minutes during non-peak hours.

Focus on public transportation

During the launch of MRT2 at Serdang Depot, Anwar said that this was one of the Malaysian government’s strategies to reduce people’s burdens, according to the Malay Mail.

According to Free Malaysia Today (FMT), the rail project was started by former prime minister Najib Razak. However, it was delayed in 2018, when the Pakatan Harapan formed the government.

It was later restarted during Muhyiddin Yassin’s administration.

In December 2022, newly appointed Transport Minister Anthony Loke remarked that Malaysia's "best public transport facilities" were in need of better maintenance and that they were still "a third world country" in this aspect.

Anwar also said public transportation would be prioritised in the country’s next federal Budget as this year’s Budget was focused on health and education, according to FMT.

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Top images via Facebook pages of Anwar Ibrahim & MRT Corp