Spotted: 4-carriage LRT train!!! (Update #7)

Update: As of 12 April 2010, there are now 9 units of 4-carriage trains operating on the Kelana Jaya line!

Updated with even more photos from our favourite trainspotting place, Sooka Sentral@KL Sentral!

By now, most public transport watchers know that RapidKL is testing 3 of their 4-carriage LRT trains (sets 37, 38, & 39) on the Kelana Jaya line. The media has also become aware of the new trains.

• 8 October 2009 Smoother travel on Kelana Jaya LRT line soon (Malay Mail)
• 9 October 2009 Right move by RapidKL LRT (Malay Mail)

Basically, this is how we got to know what was happening:

TRANSIT received an sms from an eager public transport watcher who let us know that a 4-carriage LRT train was undergoing testing on the Kelana Jaya line this morning (28 September).

The empty train was spotted at KL Sentral at 8:00 am on the 28th. We can only wonder what the waiting customers were thinking to see the empty train.  We have also received reports of sightings of the 4-carriage LRT train at other stations, including the photos & videos below.

The above video from transit watcher Kelvin Khew shows a RapidKL 4-carriage LRT Train 39 (239/139) at Pasar Seni LRT station bound for Kelana Jaya.

More photos / videos

• Train 39 at Pasar Seni LRT station bound for Kelana Jaya. Photo by Kelvin Khew;
• Train 39 at Pasar Seni LRT with doors open. Photo by Kelvin Khew;
• Train 37 enters KL Sentral LRT station. This train is bound for Kelana Jaya. Photo by Kelvin Khew;

Once again, if you see a 4-carriage train being tested, please take a photo and email it to klangvalley.transit@gmail.com or post the link in the comments section below.

TRANSIT recalls hearing sometime in July that the 4-carriage trains would begin service on 29 September. We have also been told that testing will go on until October 11 and revenue (passenger carrying) service will begin on October 12. However, RapidKL staff have denied that the trains will enter revenue service in October (despite an earlier statement that they would) and are refusing to give a specific timeline.

We know we should not pass on rumours but sometimes we wish RapidKL and Prasarana were more engaging and less closemouthed about public transport. Besides, people are excited!

This really nice photo below (click here for a larger version) by kkkhor shows a 4-carriage train and a 2-carriage train at the Lembah Subang Depot.

In an earlier posting, TRANSIT also shared some images of the 4-carriage LRT trains at the Hartasuma plant in Malaysia.

A few of the images are posted below, while some larger images and the remaining images can be obtained from the original posting.