KUCHING: The Autonomous Rapid Transit (ART) hydrogen-powered prototype vehicles have entered Kota Samarahan for the Phase 2 proof-of-concept (POC) phase.
Arriving during the early hours of Saturday (Nov 18) from its previous location at Pending Port, the prototype now rests at La Promenade Mall.
Sarawak Metro in a Facebook posting said the three-kilometre stretch of dedicated lane along the Kuching-Samarahan Expressway will form a section of what will become the permanent ART double lane built for the Kuching Urban Transportation System (KUTS) project’s Blue Line.
“It was a smooth and successful move for our prototype ART hydrogen vehicle from its former stabling area at Pending Port to the new site for stabling in Kota Samarahan.
“We’re now preparing for Phase 2 of the ART hydrogen vehicle’s POC exercise, which will start soon on a section of the Blue Line’s dedicated lane that was recently constructed between the roundabout near Sarawak Heart Centre and the roundabout near ILP Kota Samarahan,” it said.
As with the engineering run held at the Isthmus Kuching in September and October, Sarawak Metro said the POC exercise this month and in December will not include test rides on the ART hydrogen vehicle for the general public except by invitation for the purpose of gathering data.
In regards to the engineering run which was conducted at the Isthmus in September and October, Sarawak Metro said it has gathered the necessary data for the prototype zero-emission vehicle after two months of engineering run.
The company said the data will serve as an essential input for the ongoing design phase of the ART vehicle before it enters into the mass production stage.
During the engineering run, more than 80 groups from both federal and state government agencies and various stakeholders from the private sector and non-governmental organisations were given the opportunity to take a test ride on the prototype ART vehicle.
Previously, Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas had said that Southeast Asia’s first Transit Signal Priority (TSP) system is now in operation along the Kuching-Samarahan Expressway at the ILP and Sarawak Heart Centre roundabouts.
