LRT operator must explain all delays over 15 mins
PETALING JAYA: In a move to provide quick and efficient service to the public, delays of 15 minutes or more on the Rapid KL LRT service must be announced at a media conference under a new Standard Operating Procedure that comes into immediate effect.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook said that complying with the SOP was necessary so as to provide quick response to the public should delays occur and also to avoid congestion at the stations.
“All delays involving technical problems in excess of 15 minutes are categorised as ‘major disruption’ and the onus is on Prasarana (Syarikat Prasarana Sdn Bhd — the company that manages the LRT services) to provide clarification to the public through a media conference.
“At the same time, any incident and announcements from Prasarana should also be disseminated through social media more frequently and should be improved,” he told reporters at a press conference after riding on the LRT along the Kelana Jaya route here yesterday.
Loke said the (LRT) management was also required to provide a monthly report on train services to the Transport Ministry.
“We will also want to extend the SOP to other public transport systems such as KTM, but for now, we are only focussing services provided by Prasarana,” he said.
Meanwhile, Loke said all train electronic display information systems should function at the Ampang Line LRT stations by early next year, as the system was found to be faulty at some LRT stations.
“It is to ensure that all passengers know the arrival time of the trains and plan their trips more efficiently,” he said.
To reduce the surplus capacity during off-peak times, he said the ministry was planning to offer cheaper fares to train passengers during ‘non-peak’ hours to optimise the use of the trains
“However, this matter needs to be discussed and planned carefully between the ministry and the authority that manages the trains,” he added.
Earlier, Loke and the Prasarana management boarded the train from the Bukit Jalil LRT station (Sri Petaling Line) to the Damai LRT station before arriving at the Lembah Subang Depot for a briefing.
There was a service disruption on the the Kelana Jaya LRT service affecting the Kelana Jaya route in the early hours of Sept 25 because of the signal problem of its automatic carriages at the LRT Damai station.
Following the incident, many consumers had complained that the company had to introduce a more efficient announcement system, including for the Monorail and MRT routes, to inform commuters. — Bernama