Lee: First 2 units of ART hydrogen vehicles delivered to Kuching by year-end

KUCHING (Sept 10): The first two units of the Autonomous Rapid Transit (ART) hydrogen vehicle for the Kuching Urban Transportation System (KUTS) project will be delivered to Kuching by the end of the year, said Sarawak Transport Minister Dato Sri Lee Kim Shin.

In a statement today, Lee said the pre-commissioning and physical inspection and test ride of the very first unit, or the ‘golden train’, took place on Monday (Sept 9) at the CRRC Corporation Limited (CRRC) manufacturing facility in Yibin, Sichuan Province in China.

Describing this as a major milestone for the KUTS project, he said he was pleased with the progress of the manufacturing process.

He explained that of the 38 total units of ART hydrogen vehicles set to arrive in stages in Kuching starting this year, five will be delivered fully assembled while the rest are set to arrive as semi-assembled units over the next couple of years.

“With each milestone achieved in the KUTS project, Sarawak has received more attention than before.

“Our ART project has attracted the attention not only of some of the other states in Malaysia, but also the interest of our regional neighbours, especially when we were able to showcase the ART hydrogen vehicle during last year’s proof of concept (POC) exercise and engineering run.

“I believe the whole world is paying attention to what we are doing in transforming the public transport system, especially our efforts in using clean energy, in this case green hydrogen,” said Lee during a meeting with the CRRC top management team in conjunction with the pre-commissioning event at the CRRC manufacturing facility.

Compared to the prototype ART vehicle used for the POC exercise, he said the new ART vehicles have incorporated several upgrades; capable of climbing slopes of up to 10 per cent and can be used in various road environments, with a maximum speed of up to 80km/h.

The ART hydrogen vehicles now adopt a lighter weight design, significantly reducing the weight by 2.5 tons, making them more energy-efficient.

Further adding to the user-friendliness of the ART hydrogen vehicles, they will also have dedicated areas for luggage, wheelchairs and foldable bicycles.

Lee also highlighted that sustainability objectives were high on the list of priorities for the KUTS project.

As such, he said efforts were also being made to explore all the advances in hydrogen technology, especially towards reducing the cost of production of green hydrogen for our public transport needs.

“I believe the whole world is looking at the issue of reducing the cost of production of clean energy such as green hydrogen and if we are able to find the best solutions, the hydrogen economy will have an even brighter future,” he said, adding that Sarawak was one of the pioneers in adopting this zero-emission public transport system outside of China.

Among those present from Sarawak at the ceremony were Deputy Minister of Transport Datuk Dr Jerip Susil, Ministry of Transport permanent secretary Datu Wong Hee Sieng, Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board Sarawak director Cornelia Wong Chui, Padawan Municipal Council chairman Tan Kai, Sarawak Metro Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Mazli Mustaffa and EMGJV Sdn Bhd CEO Chan Chee Kian.

Those from China included Yibin Municipal Government standing committee member Tao Xuezhou, CRRC Zhuzhou Institute Inc deputy general manager Chen Jian, and Hunan CRRC Intelligent Transport Technology Co Ltd general manager Peng Zhonghong.