The need for Kuala Lumpur's public transport system to be revamped became apparent once the city's light rapid transit (LRT) lines began commercial operations and it was determined that ridership had been much lower than anticipated. This caused revenue levels that were correspondingly lower than expected, and the two former LRT concessionaires, Sistem Transit Aliran Ringan Sdn Bhd (STAR-LRT) and Projek Usahasama Transit Ringan Automatik Sdn Bhd (PUTRA-LRT), could not repay their commercial loans. The 1997 Asian financial crisis aggravated the situation, and by November 2001, the two companies owed a combined total of RM5.7 billion. The Government of Malaysia's Corporate Debt Restructuring Committee (CDRC) stepped in to restructure the debts of the two LRT companies. In 2002, both companies and their respective LRT services were bought over by Prasarana Malaysia, and operations of the lines eventually were transferred to Rapid KL. The company went on to takeover and operate the KL Monorail as well as operating the newly constructed mass rapid transit (MRT) line, with 2 more lines under construction.