MANAGEMENT RESHUFFLE AT RAPID RAIL AS MUHAMMAD ISOM AZIS IS NEW ACTING CEO

Prasarana Malaysia Berhad (Prasarana) today announced a management reshuffle at its subsidiary, Rapid Rail Sdn Bhd (Rapid Rail) following the departure of its Chief Executive Officer Dato’ Ir. Zohari Sulaiman, who has joined MRT Corporation as Project Director for MRT Line 3.

Muhammad Isom Azis has been appointed as the Acting CEO of Rapid Rail; with his previous position of Chief Operating Officer of MRT Sungai Buloh – Kajang (MRT SBK) Line to be filled by Abdul Hadi Amran from LRT Ampang/Sri Petaling Line.

From left Dato Ir Zohari Sulaiman and En Muhammad Isom Azis

“Hadi’s position as the Chief Operating Officer will be filled by Mohd Ariffin Idris, who was previously the Chief Operating Officer of KL Monorail,” Prasarana said in a statement here today.

Previously the Head of Operations for MRT SBK Line, Azmi Mohd Zain has been promoted as the Chief Operating Officer of KL Monorail. In his absence, the post is filled by Puan Sofiah Hussien, who was the Head of MRT SBK Line Operation Control Centre.

Rapid Rail’s other service network – LRT Kelana Jaya Line is headed by Ismail Abdullah, the statement added.

Leaving the organization after more than 22 years of service including the period during the days of Rapid KL, Zohari said he was deeply honoured to be part of Prasarana and helped to contribute in elevating the standard of public transport services in Malaysia to world-class standard.

“At Prasarana, we are mandated by the Government to help transform the public transport system in Malaysia with emphasis on network integration, providing connectivity and extending the coverage of the urban public transport services. I am happy to be able to provide my service in various capacities under Prasarana,” said Zohari, who had also served as Director of Prasarana’s Infrastructure Services Division, Chief Executive Officer of Rapid Bus; and Chief Executive Officer of Prasarana Rail and Infrastructure Projects Sdn Bhd (PRAISE).

Prior to establishment of Prasarana in 2002, Zohari, who has been involved in the rail industry for more than 36 years in total including his KTM days, was also the General Manager of Engineering and Operations for Ampang and Kelana Jaya Line under Rapid KL.

On his new appointment, Zohari said he was looking forward to his new assignment; adding that managing the MRT3 project would be very special for him; it would also be more challenging as it would be far bigger than the Bus Rapid Transit – Sunway Line Project and the LRT Line Extension Project (LEP) that PRAISE delivered in 2015 and 2016 respectively.

While the BRT-Sunway Line is Malaysia’s first elevated bus transit system and operated fully by electric buses, the LEP involved the extension of both the Sri Petaling and Kelana Jaya LRT networks; merging both lines at the integrated Putra Heights station.

In his comments, Muhammad Isom thanked the leadership of Prasarana for the confidence and trust in his capability to lead Rapid Rail; adding that he was proud and honoured to continue the excellent record of his predecessor, Dato’ Ir. Zohari.

“I am humbly delighted; and it is indeed an incredible honor to have the opportunity to lead Rapid Rail through this exciting phase of its journey. I look forward to all of the excitement and challenges that lie ahead. I thank Prasarana for this opportunity. l look forward to meeting employees, leaders,  customers and other stakeholders and to be working with them to achieve further success.

“In maintaining the high level of achievements left by our former CEO, we will need to strive to work together with all subsidiaries to achieve Prasarana main goals. We can only make progress on this journey when all of us are driving together in the same direction. This is achievable by working together as a team.

“The main focus of Rapid Rail will be to further promote its services as a cool, convenient and safe service for city folks and woo in higher ridership especially outside the peak hours. We will continue to work closely with our stakeholders especially amongst the private sector to inject more life and to rejunavate our stations and our services,” Muhammad Isom, who has more than 30 years working experience including over 21 years’ experience in Railway Industry especially on rail projects.

A multi-disciplinary Railway Project Manager with hands-on experience in Project and Programme Management, System Integration, Maintenance Management, Depot design and installation and Systems Engineering, Muhammad Isom has wide experience in the complete manufacturing process of Electric Multiple Unit, Light Rail Vehicle, Mass Rapid Transit train sets including on the systems and Testing and Commissioning.

“I cannot imagine a more important and exciting time to lead Rapid Rail,” added Muhammad Isom.