The first two units of the Autonomous Rapid Transit (ART) hydrogen vehicle for the Kuching Urban Transportation System (KUTS) project in Malaysia will be delivered to Kuching by the end of the year, according to the Sarawak Transport Minister Datuk Seri Lee Kim Shin. Lee noted that sustainability objectives were high on the list of priorities for the KUTS project.
Minister 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, 2024) at the CRRC Corporation Limited (CRRC) manufacturing facility in Yibin, Sichuan Province in China.
A total of 38 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.
“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.
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.
Source: Malay Mail, Sep 11, 2024. https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2024/09/11/kuching-to-receive-first-art-hydrogen-vehicles-by-year-end-as-whole-world-is-paying-attention-to-what-were-doing-says-sarawak-minister/150017