Brokered by its subsidiary, Prasarana Integrated Management & Engineering Services (PRIME), the training will be provided under an agreement with Akademi Perkeretaapian Indonesia (API), which is the leading rail training centre in the republic.

In a statement issued today, PRIME, which has been aggressively working on venturing on the international market especially after the success of MMMSL, said that a letter of acceptance of training proposal was received in January.

Training for the Indonesian rail staff will be conducted by Rail Academy, which is an internationally-recognised training centre under the management of Rapid Rail Sdn Bhd, which is another subsidiary company of Prasarana.

“The first batch of 10 train drivers and 5 controllers will be coming to the Academy in April 2017, and to be subsequently followed by other batches plus the possibility of other areas of collaboration,” said PRIME Chief Executive Officer, Puan Masnizam Hisham. 

She said the collaboration between Prasarana and MRT Jakarta was made possible after both sides signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Jakarta in October last year. Under the MoU, Prasarana had agreed will share its experience in the planning and operations of urban rail lines with the Indonesian operator.

The MoU also noted that both parties had agreed to explore the possibility of exchanges in technical and operational information, expertise, and know-how to further enhance and develop their mutual capabilities.

“Following the signing of the MOU, we and MRT Jakarta have had a series of discussions and study tours between us. At one of the visits last July, we raised the subject on the potential of Prasarana offering operation and maintenance consultation services as shadow operator services and the possibility of providing training for MRT Jakarta staff.

“We are happy that our Indonesian counterparts were very receptive to the proposals and for start, to send over their train drivers and operation control centre staff for training here at our Rail Academy,” added Masnizam, who is also the Project Director for MMMSL operations.

Prasarana secured a three-year contract for maintenance and operations of the MMMSL from 2015.