Hartasuma Sdn Bhd (Hartasuma), the nation’s integrated rail solutions provider, is accelerating its regional expansion, capitalising on the region’s transition to sustainable energy and rail infrastructure investment.
“According to the International Energy Agency, rail is among the most energy-efficient modes of transport for freight and passengers. While rail carries 8% of the world’s passengers and 7% of global freight transport, it represents just 2% of total transport energy demand. Clearly, there is immense potential to reduce carbon emissions by transitioning cargo and passenger transport to rail and pursuing rail decarbonisation,” said Tan Sri Ravindran Menon, Hartasuma’s Group Executive Director.
To position itself for the next phase of growth, Hartasuma has entered into two separate collaboration pacts with Australia’s leading rail and transit systems provider, Downer Group, and Indonesia’s PT Len Railway Systems (“PT LRS”), targeting a wide range of opportunities in ASEAN espcially those related to rail decarbonisation.
On 24 September, Hartasuma signed strategic association agreement with Downer Group and PT Len Railway Systems at the launch of the Malaysia Pavilion at Berlin’s Innotrans 2024, the world’s leading trade fair for transport technology.
The agreement between Hartasuma and Downer brings the companies together for decarbonisation initiatives, engineering innovations, and digital solutions. Hartasuma and Downer will also participate in best-practice sharing on diversity and inclusion (D&I) initiatives, leveraging best practices from Australia to improve female participation in Malaysia’s rail sector.
Meanwhile, PT LRS is a subsidiary of PT LEN, Indonesia’s largest provider of railway applications and safety systems. Together, Hartasuma and PT LRS aim to collaborate on the development of rail subsystems including signaling, and to explore decarbonisation initiatives that promote hybrid rail technology, which typically combines diesel and electric drive systems to potentially reduce fuel consumption by 50%, compared to trains that rely exclusively on diesel.
