Rapid Bus Sdn Bhd is the largest bus operator in Malaysia operating mainly in urban areas of Klang Valley, Penang & Kuantan. As of February 2023, Rapid KL service brands unit of Rapid Bus, has operates 113 normal routes and also 69 MRT Feeder Bus routes, along with 8 Nadiputra routes in Putrajaya. [1]
Rapid Bus routes were previously operated by Intrakota Komposit Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of DRB-Hicom Berhad; and Cityliner Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Park May Berhad. When it took over, there were 179 routes. Since January 2006, Rapid KL has redrawn the entire network.
Rapid Bus is however not the only bus operator in Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley. Other bus operators such as Selangor Omnibus, MARA Liner and Causeway Link also serve the Klang Valley.
History
In October 2003, Prasarana MalaysiaBerhad bought over Intrakota Komposit and its subsidiaries from DRB-Hicom for RM177mil. It also paid RM14mil cash for the 364 buses belonging to Cityliner. The original companies were appointed interim operators.
Rapid Bus began the first phase of the revamp of its bus network in January 2006 by introducing 15 City Shuttle bus routes which serve major areas in the central business district of Kuala Lumpur. The buses run between four hubs at the edge of the central business district, namely KL Sentral, Titiwangsa, KLCC and Maluri, and Medan Pasar in the city centre. These bus hubs also serve as rail interchanges, with the exception of Medan Pasar, although it is at a walking distance from Masjid Jamek LRT station.
In March 2006, Rapid Bus revamped the bus network serving Kepong, Selayang, Gombak, Batu Caves, Bandar Sri Damansara and Bandar Manjalara areas which it called Area 2. The areas are now service by four Trunk Routes and 35 Local Shuttle routes when fully implemented. The four trunk routes all begin from the Titiwangsa hub where passengers can change to City Shuttles. At the other end, the trunk routes serve regional hubs where Local Shuttles fan out into the residential suburbs.
On 30 April 2006, the bus network in Area 3 covering Setapak, Ulu Kelang, Wangsa Maju, Keramat, Ampang and Pandan was revamped. Three trunk bus routes serve this area, one from Titiwangsa and two from KLCC while 26 local shuttle routes complete the network for this area.
On 21 April 2007, sixteen months after the first step of the first revamp, a second major revamp was undertaken on the entire bus network on grounds of feedback from commuters who wanted the buses to ferry them from their housing estates direct to the city centre, that is with less or without much need to change buses in the middle of their journey.[2]
This revamp saw the routes being adjusted (e.g. B112 [Maluri — KL Sentral], formerly 112, now passes by Jalan Hang Tuah/Pudu/Tun Tan Cheng Lock instead of Jalan Maharajalela/Sultan Sulaiman), extended (T40 [Kajang — Maluri], is now U40 and is extended to Pasar Seni LRT), merged (T41 [Serdang Komuter — Maluri] and 414 [Serdang — Bandar Sungai Long] become U41 [Pasar Seni LRT — Bandar Sungai Long]) or discontinued (route 107 ceased operations on that date).
On 1 December 2015, a third revamp, known as The Bus Network Revamp (BNR) was carried out by SPAD to improve urban public transport in Greater Kuala Lumpur/ Klang Valley. This procedure has caused RapidKL to surrender most of its bus routes to other bus providers such as Causeway Link, Selangor Omnibus, Setara Jaya and Nadi Putra, and also changes to the route numbers.
On 18 June 2020, Rapid Bus released new features on real time locations of bus in Google Maps, via collaboration with Google Transit.[3][4][5][6] Almost 170 RapidKL's bus routes are covered with this real time feature, and were expanded to MRT feeder bus service, Rapid Penang, and Rapid Kuantan.
On 2023, Rapid KL take over the bus service operator from Pengangkutan Awam Putrajaya Travel & Tours Sdn Bhd in Putrajaya.
Services
Rapid KL, a unit of Rapid Bus currently the largest operator stage bus services in Klang Valley.
Rapid Penang, a unit of Rapid Bus currently the only one operator in Penang island & largest operator stage bus services in Penang northern state of Malaysia.
MBPP Rapid Penang Free Shuttle for Bridge Express Shuttle Transit (BEST), Central Area Transit (CAT) and Pulau Tikus Loop (PTL) funded by Penang Island City Council (MBPP), only CAT for George Town and CAT Bridge is remained, the others are being terminated.
Rapid Manjung, a unit of Rapid Bus in Manjung, terminated on 1 November 2020.
Nadi Putra, a unit of Rapid Bus funded by Putrajaya Corporation, launched in 1 January 2023. It replaced the previous bus operator from Pengangkutan Awam Putrajaya Travel & Tours Sdn Bhd which have been privatized in 2018.
Rapid Bus operates four types of bus services: City Shuttles (Malay: Perkhidmatan bandar), Trunk Buses (Perkhidmatan utama), Local Shuttles (Perkhidmatan tempatan) and point-to-point Express buses (Perkhidmatan ekspres).
City Shuttles have red destination boards, trunk buses have blue boards, local shuttles have green boards and express services have orange boards.
Rapid Bus has also divided up the Klang Valley into six areas:
Area One : Kuala Lumpur City Centre (Central Business District)
Area Two : Kepong, Segambut, Selayang, Batu Caves, Gombak, Jalan Ipoh and Sentul
Area Three : Setapak, Wangsa Maju, Ulu Klang, Setiawangsa, Keramat, Ampang and Pandan
Area Four : Cheras, Kajang, Ulu Langat, Putrajaya, Cyberjaya, Semenyih, Sungai Besi, Seri Kembangan, Serdang and Balakong
Area Five : Klang, Shah Alam Selatan, Bandar Sunway, Subang Jaya, Jalan Klang Lama and Puchong
Area Six : Shah Alam Utara, Subang, Damansara, Petaling Jaya Utara, Bangsar and Kota Damansara
Route numbers for the local shuttle are prefixed by the letter T (for Tempatan), e.g. T323.
Route numbers for the express services are prefixed by the letter E (for Ekspres), e.g. E11A.
There was a prefix for trunk shuttles which is U (for Utama) e.g. U410 and for city shuttles which is B (for Bandar), e.g. B114. Later all the prefix were demolished due to the revamping of the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) except the local shuttle T (Tempatan) services.
The Bus Network Revamp (BNR): 2015–present
The Ampang Corridor, Cheras Corridor, Sungai Besi Corridor, Klang Lama Corridor, Lebuhraya Persekutuan Corridor, Damansara Corridor, Jalan Ipoh Corridor, and Jalan Pahang Corridor were revamped under the Bus Network Revamp reorganization.
Before the implementation of the Bus Network Revamp (BNR) by the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD), these are the former routes being served by Rapid Bus.
Previous route number
Destination
New route number under BNR
U3
Bandar Baru Selayang – Medan Pasar
Rapid KL (Route 151) Previously served by Setara Jaya (December 2015 – 2022) and MARA Liner (2022 - January 2023)
Not in service (replaced with route T 523 by KR Travel & Tours) Previously served by Nadi Putra (December 2015 - March 2020) and KR Travel & Tours (June 2020 - May 2022)
U69
Putra Perdana – Pasar Seni
Causeway Link (Route 601) Previously served by Metrobus (December 2015 – October 2016)
Not in service (replaced with route T 523 by KR Travel & Tours) Previously served by Nadi Putra (December 2015 - March 2020) and KR Travel & Tours (June 2020 - May 2022)
Rapid Bus new bus system expects users to hop on more than one bus to complete a journey. This is unlike the previous Rapid Bus bus system and that still in use by other bus operators in the Klang Valley, where most bus services begin in the suburbs, follow a trunk route to the city, then perform a sweep in the city centre before terminating.
Instead, Rapid Bus users are expected to use a combination of its four types of services to complete journeys. Local Shuttles take users in the suburbs to hubs, usually bus terminals or LRT stations, where users transfer to LRTs or trunk buses to continue their journeys to the city or elsewhere in the Klang Valley. The city centre is served exclusively by GoKL City Bus.
Fares
Effective 1 September 2009, all Rapid Bus buses will be issued a single journey tickets for their city shuttle (BANDAR), local shuttle (TEMPATAN) & express (EKSPRES) bus routes which replaced the daily unlimited ride tickets. As for trunk shuttle (UTAMA) bus route, the tickets will be issued based on the number of zones covered. For example, if a person travels across three zones on the trunk shuttle (UTAMA) bus route, the bus fare is RM 2.50 for single journey. The ticket must be kept while on board for inspection by RapidKL officials failure of which the ticket must be purchased again if the ticket is lost while on board during the inspection.
Spouse and a total of 4 youngsters under 15 years old are allowed to accompany the pass holder free on weekends and public holidays.
Effective 10 April 2019, all RapidKL buses is implementing full cashless journey for all routes by stages, in which the bus only accepts Touch n Go card only for user convenience. The systems were fully implemented by 27 May 2019.[8]
The fares for each zone per single journey is as follows
Zones travelled (RM)
Zones
1
2
3
4/BET
Adults
1.00
1.90
2.50
3.00
Concessions
0.50
0.90
1.20
1.50
Unlimited journey monthly-pass were also available for Malaysian-citizens, at RM30 per month.
Schedules
Detailed schedules of bus services are not published, although headway information and operating hours is publicly available.
Headway:
City Shuttle: 10 to 20 minutes
Trunk Line (UTAMA): 15 to 30 minutes
Local Shuttle (TEMPATAN): 30 to 75 minutes
There are scheduled services that are not subject to the above headways.
RapidBET – Rapid Bus Express Transit service
In 2010, SPAD introduced the express transit system in Klang Valley, namely BET, where the buses utilize less congested highways to link between heavily populated areas and city centers in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Penang. Naturally, by using the highways, travel time is reduced as the highways are less congested than the normal routes. The service will have limited stops and rely on feeder buses and park-n-ride facilities to ensure sufficient ridership. With BET, travel time is expected to be reduced by up to 50 percent on certain BETs.
During the introduction of these services, there are 6 routes managed by Rapid KL, and these services are only available on weekdays and during the morning and evening rush hours only. For this initial introductory stage, BET will run at 15 minute intervals during the morning and evening peak hours. Frequency and service periods will be increased at a later stage depending on the demand for each route.
Buses for BET routes are about two to five buses initially and will be reviewed from time to time as the demand grows. BET is more of an enhancement to the current services, whereby the focus is more to shorten the travel time. Fare for single journey on RapidKL is RM3 for adults and RM1.50 for concession, at flat rate.
Double deck bus on BET7 Sri Nilam-Lebuh Ampang in the morning rush hour at Renaissance Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. This route is the most heavily used than any other BET services.
As the rail system has been extended, most of the BET ridership has declined, resulting in termination of the most BET routes inside Kuala Lumpur district area. The last BET inside Kuala Lumpur district area is the BET7, from Sri Nilam at Bandar Baru Ampang, parallel to 300 service until LRT Ampang, then bypass through Ampang-Kuala Lumpur Elevated Highway (AKLEH) until Jalan Tun Razak interchange, then re-merge on 300 at Ampang Park LRT station before terminating at Munshi Abullah bus hub. This route is the most heavily used than any other BET's, and the bus only runs on morning rush hour, 4 trips daily. The fleet used is the Alexander Dennis Enviro500 and Volvo B8L double-decker bus.
As of May 2021, the service has been suspended due to Malaysia's total lockdown. Rapid KL has since discontinued the BET7 service and replaced with the new DS01 direct service.
Alexander Dennis Enviro500Volvo B8L
Gombak District-Putrajaya BET Routes
King Long XMQ6121G on BET17 service at Greenwood terminal.
These two BET services serve the Putrajaya Presint 2 central district for government employees between Selayang, Batu Caves, Melawati and Putrajaya are the only BET route that bypassed Kuala Lumpur district area, and the only BET service operated by Rapid KL. The bus runs 4 trips daily per route, 2 morning trips to Putrajaya and 2 return evening trips. The buses consist of five specially modified King Long XMQ6121G, of which the transverse seatings were displaced from the former Mercedes Benz CBC1725 buses.
The former Mercedes Benz seats were reused in selected King Long buses for long-haul service comfort.
King Long XMQ6121G on BET16 service at Warta Lama bus stop.
Kajang-Putrajaya limited bus service
On 3 June 2023, RapidKL introduced a new limited stop bus route 451 (the only BET route service to use the stage bus code - 451 route number formerly used by discontinued Sri Indah bus route from Kajang town to Hab Lebuh Pudu via KL-Seremban Highway) connecting between Kajang MRT station and Putrajaya Sentral MRT station via Bandar Baru Bangi and Jalan Uniten-Dengkil with a flat fare of RM1.00.[9] The bus route replaced the former KJ04 route from Smart Selangor where it used to serve Kajang and Putrajaya until 1 January 2022 where the KJ04 bus route shortened until Bandar Baru Bangi, thus the Kajang-Putrajaya section are no longer accessible via public transport prior to introduction of bus route 451 (the closest option prior to MRT Putrajaya Line opening is to take a KTM Komuter train from Kajang station to Serdang station and then take a KR Travel & Tours bus route 523 to Putrajaya).
The bus route 451 runs 8 trips on weekdays only: 4 morning trips from Kajang and 4 return evening trips from Putrajaya with 30 minutes interval per trip. The limited timetable is used on bus route 451 due to focusing on government servants living in Kajang and Bangi and working in Putrajaya. Because of this, there are no all-day service (including weekends and public holidays with the exception during Merdeka Day in Putrajaya) for the bus route 451, hence they are required to take a rail services from Kajang to Putrajaya on other times which is only possible by going northwards to interchange stations in Kuala Lumpur (either by MRT Kajang Line from Kajang station to Tun Razak Exchange station or by KTM Komuter train from Kajang station to Bandar Tasik Selatan station with additional transfer to Sungai Besi station via LRT Sri Petaling Line) and ride MRT Putrajaya Line train southwards to Putrajaya Sentral. The service is currently put on trial starting from 3 June 2023 until 31 March 2024 (extended twice, first due until 30 September 2023, then extended until 31 December 2023).
Penang express service
401E – Pengkalan Weld, Penang – Queensbay Mall – Bayan Baru – Bayan Lepas International Airport – Balik Pulau via Tun Dr. Lim Chong Eu Expressway (normal service as 401)
Skip-Stop-Xpress bus service
On 16 May 2022, a new pilot programme called Skip-Stop-Xpress service are being introduced, on which the service focused on point-to-point, non-stop service in between. The bus runs on weekday morning and evening rush hour with a frequency of 30 minutes to 1 hour per bus. The first route, DS01 were the first to put on trial, starts from LRT Ampang until KLCC bus terminal with one stop at Ampang Park, similar to BET7 bus service.[10] The trial proved successful, and the service were put on permanent service on 17 April 2023 with a fare of RM1.10, replacing the BET7 service.[11]
Discontinued
Below were discontinued routes due to several reasons, such as ineffective route or low demand. This low demand were due to the MRT or LRT services already served the area.
BET7 – Sri Nilam > LRT Ampang > AKLEH > Ampang Park > KLCC > Lebuh Ampang > Hab Munshi Abdullah (normal service as 300, discontinued on 2022 due to introduction of DS01 direct service)
BET8 – Semenyih Sentral, Semenyih to Lebuh Pudu bus hub via the Kajang–Seremban Highway (discontinued on 2019 due to low demand)
Limited-stop service
Three routes has been chosen by Rapid KL for the limited stop trial service on 15 February 2021 until 1 April 2021.[12] The service, parallel to the existing route, skips some stops along the way and only stops at major stops with high riderships. Until the end of trial, Rapid KL has decided to discontinue the service due to confusion with passengers and bus shortage.
Bas Wanita – Bus for ladies only
In early December 2010, RapidKL introduced the very first 'Bas Wanita' services in Malaysia, which a bus will serve exclusively for ladies passengers only during morning and evening rush hours. Like KTM Komuter's Ladies Coach, this service is intended to avoid sexual harassment on the fully loaded normal buses during rush hours.[13] 7 routes were put on trial with addition 8 routes after successful trial, with addition of letter prefix 'W' at the end of route number to distinguish with normal services (e.g. U6W, U80W). Special stickers and signage were placed to make the services more visible. This services were proved successful, but it was later discontinued due to bus shortage.
RapidPenang Intercity
On 2 August 2015, RapidPenang introduced the very first intercity route from Penang Sentral to Sungai Petani and Parit Buntar. This route uses Scania K250UB (previously Alexander Dennis Enviro500), and the frequency is one hour per bus.
RapidKL Hino XZU midibus leased from Kiffah (right, T300) and Selangor Omnibus (left, T304).
In September 2019, Rapid KL re-introduced the minibus service to improve first-mile connectivity, especially for sharper and narrower routes.[14] T300 is the first trial route to operate minibus service, using SKSBus E98 Midi-bodied Hino XZU high entry midibus leased from Kiffah Travel and Tours for 3 months. Later on 15 September 2019, another route, T304 were put on trial, using Pioneer-bodied Hino XZU high entry midibus leased from Selangor Omnibus for 3 months.[15] One of the fleet were equipped with wheelchair hydraulic lift for wheelchair access.
Hino Poncho test bus on route T784 at Damansara Utama. This is the shortest minibus on any other fleet used.
On 20 October 2019, Rapid KL put another bus on trial using newly imported Hino Poncho minibus leased from Hino Motors Malaysia, which served the T784 service for 3 months.[16] This bus later transferred to Batu Caves for another trial on T201 service.
On 16 November 2020, another trials were implemented, using 2 Toyota Hiace and 1 Hyundai Starex vans on newly-created route T252 for 4 months.[17]
All leased fleets were returned after trials were ended, however on 11 October 2021, Rapid KL resumed the Hino Poncho minibus trials on 302 service, later expanded the trials to Rapid Penang on 15 October 2021 on route 11. Rapid KL then resumed the trial on T851 parliament service from 20 February until 27 June 2023, on which the buses sent back to Hino Motors Malaysia after trial ended.
Bus Fleet
As of June 2014, the Rapid Bus fleet consists of 1,400 vehicles.[18]
Hino Poncho 2DG-HX9JHCE (leased from Hino Motors on 2019, end of trial contract in 2023)
Bus Depots
Rapid Bus headquarters complex were located at Cheras Selatan, where all training purposes, bus academy, new bus testing and major maintenance and overhaul takes place. It also holds as the largest depot than any other Rapid Bus depot. Other depots include Batu Caves, Shah Alam and Maluri depots for Rapid KL, Lorong Kulit, Mak Mandin and Pengkalan Weld depots for Rapid Penang, Nibong Tebal depot for RapidKamunting, and Semambu depots for Rapid Kuantan. Specially built BRT Sunway Line depot located at Sun U-Monash station, Sunway, while Sungai Buloh, Kajang, Desa Tun Razak and Jinjang depots houses the MRT Feeder buses.
See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to RapidKL buses.
