PETALING JAYA, Dec 16 — Selangor’s Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah expressed his satisfaction with the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) following his maiden visit with Tengku Permaisuri Norashikin today, said Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar.

The Prasarana Malaysia Bhd group chairman said the state Ruler had conveyed this at the conclusion of his day-long royal tour of the agency’s rail facilities, which coincided with the anniversary of the MRT’s first year of operations today.

“Tuanku experienced all four rail services today. The only service he didn’t ride on was the RapidKL bus services.

“With such modern facilities, Tuanku hopes the people would look after its cleanliness and would fully utilise it,” he told the media after the tour ended at 4pm at the Kuala Lumpur Concorde hotel, today.

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Aside from the MRT, the royal couple’s tour today also covered the LRT Kelana Jaya and Ampang lines as well as the KL Monorail.

His visit to the Ampang line was also his first, while today was the second time he has inspected the Kelana Jaya line and the Monorail, having done so previously in April 2015.

On MRT’s first anniversary, Prasarana president and chief executive officer Datuk Azmi Aziz said the public were generally satisfied with the line’s services and contribution to Malaysia’s public transport network.

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He said public response on social media indicated that many would like to see more services added to enhance their travelling experience.

“We are looking at other areas that we can improve and introduce to the public in our service. Most importantly, it is about us listening to the public.

“We are in the progress of providing improvements that would encourage more people to use public transport,” said Azmi at a press conference after the tour.

With a ridership of over 20 million in its inaugural year, Azmi said the rail operator viewed the rapid growth as encouraging.

“From our past experience, for the initial years what is important is the growth of ridership.

“This was also a testament that the government’s investment in public transportation has proven to be fruitful for the people as they are able to enjoy the its success,” he said.

The Selangor Ruler’s tour began at the Glenmarie LRT station this morning, where he boarded the LRT Kelana Jaya line to the KL Sentral hub.

He then transferred to the MRT Sg Buloh-Kajang (SBK) Line at the connected Muzium station and rode it to the Kajang station where he disembarked to dine at the iconic Sate Kajang Hj Samuri restaurant.

Norsham Samuri, 44, one of five children of the late Datuk Samuri Juraimi who founded the restaurant, said she was elated and honoured that the Sultan chose to visit the eatery as part of his royal tour.

“Tuanku requested to have ‘natural ambience’ for his visit, but as hosts, we felt that we should provide the best possible in setting up the place,” she said, adding that they had begun preparing since 8am for his arrival despite usually opening at 11am.

The royal couple then took the MRT to the Sg Buloh station, before turning around for the Merdeka station where they also visited the Rukunegara mural featured there.

From there, they boarded at the Plaza Rakyat LRT station and travelled to the Hang Tuah LRT station, before switching to the Monorail line that they rode to the Bukit Nanas station adjacent to the Concorde Hotel where the tour concluded.