Sarawak Metro Sdn Bhd (Sarawak Metro) was recently presented with the Quality Achievements Award 2023 (Gold Category) from the European Society for Quality Research (ESQR).

Sarawak Metro in a news release said this is further testament to its commitment towards service and management excellence, following its three ISO certifications attained this year – ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System; ISO 14001:2015 Environmental Management System; and ISO 45001:2018 Occupational Health and Safety Management System.

The award and the certifications received this year will also further strengthen the organisation’s unwavering dedication to enhancing quality and to continuously improve and set higher benchmarks for its Kuching Urban Transportation System (KUTS) project.

In addition to the ESQR award, Sarawak Metro was also honoured and humbled to receive several accolades this year, namely the ‘Low Carbon Transport Project of the Year Award’ at Enlit Asia 2023 in Jakarta, the ‘World Brand Foundation Award’ in Kuala Lumpur, and the ‘Penarafan Audit Terbaik SEDC 2022 Award’ in Kuching.

Sarawak Metro chief executive officer Mazli Mustaffa said these recognitions further reinforce Sarawak Metro’s commitment to excellence.

“As we look towards 2024, we are inspired to further elevate our standards, to meet the rising expectations of our stakeholders.

“This latest award further motivates us to continually innovate and improve and we are now even more dedicated to not just maintain but enhance the quality of our services; proving that there is always room for growth and excellence,” he said.

Apart from Sarawak Metro, another public transport industry player, IETT from Turkey, also received the award this year.

Past award recipients from the public transport industry include Prasarana, MRT Jakarta and Etihad Rail.

Sarawak Metro, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC), has been entrusted by the Sarawak government to be the developer, operator and maintainer of the KUTS Project.

The KUTS Project’s main objective is to transform the public transport system and reduce traffic congestion in Greater Kuching.

The KUTS Project is being developed in phases where Phase 1 includes the development of three lines – the Blue Line from Rembus in Kota Samarahan to Hikmah Exchange in the city centre; the Red Line, from Kuching Sentral to Pending; and, the Green Line, from Pending to Damai.

Phase 1 of the KUTS Project is scheduled to start operations in stages from the fourth quarter of 2025.

The backbone of the KUTS project is the introduction of zero-emission Autonomous Rapid Transit (ART) hydrogen vehicles.

The ART vehicles will run on dedicated lanes, which means they will not share the road with other vehicles, and they will run on rubber tyres.

The dedicated lanes will be trackless and will either be at-grade (same level as the road) or elevated.

The ART operations will be supported by a feeder bus network, which will also use hydrogen-powered vehicles to offer ‘first-mile and last-mile’ connectivity for commuters.

The move to use hydrogen is in line with the Sarawak government’s aspiration to advance the hydrogen economy and to decarbonise public transport in Sarawak.

Source:
courtesy of THE BORNEO POST

by MARILYN TEN

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