Prasarana: Train movement tests proceeding smoothly
Suspension of LRT Kelana Jaya Line from Nov 9 to 15 affects some 200,000 riders
PETALING JAYA: Prasarana Malaysia Berhad said yesterday that tests conducted on the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Kelana Jaya Line were successful as the trains ran smoothly following several analyses and improvements that were made.
Its CEO Mohd Azharuddin Mat Sah said: “A trial run on 10 trains along the Kelana Jaya Line between Ampang Park and KLCC stations was operated to ensure they ran smoothly. We conducted an analysis and improvement by changing the trains’ modem and power supply. All 10 trains were smoothly operated, however, one had to be manually operated at first.
“We see this as a good sign. However, we would still wait for the special team from the Thales Group Original Equipment Manufacturer from Toronto, Canada, to further investigate and identify the backlog, as well as the root cause of the malfunction.
“With their help, we hope we can speed up the malfunction work at the automatic train control system (ATC),” he said at the Lembah Subang Rapid Rail depot yesterday.
On Monday, RapidKL announced that the LRT services between the Kelana Jaya and Ampang Jaya stations were halted for safety reasons after its ATC system malfunction was detected. A total of 16 stations along the Kelana Jaya Line were closed and operations were suspended from Nov 9 to15, affecting some 200,000 riders.
Azharuddin said the group would focus on four major areas to address the LRT’s suspension, such as
increasing the number of feeder buses, putting additional manpower at affected stations to control movement, offering free fares to affected passengers, and providing updates on the maintenance work.
“Overall, we allocated 100 buses this morning. We have also received 20 additional feeder buses from the Selangor government, which is the SMART Selangor bus that can help passengers in transit.
“Meanwhile, 80 additional Prasarana staff have been placed at the affected stations to control passengers’ movements and guide them to their destinations.”
He added that Rapid Rail Sdn Bhd would give out free fares as compensation to affected passengers of the Kelana Jaya Line.
“The free fares would be implemented after the LRT operations and services were restored. Details are being finalised and we will provide more information in due course.”
theSun spoke to rider Raziq Ariff, 24, who suffered the inconvenience of LRT disruption on Tuesday and Wednesday, and has been working from home since yesterday.
“On Tuesday when it was announced that the LRT station was
closed. My boss offered to send me to Subang Jaya, but the traffic was very bad. We got out of Kuala Lumpur around 7.15pm and reached Subang Jaya at 9.20pm.
“On Wednesday, I went to work using the KTM train service from Subang Jaya and stopped at KL Sentral and booked a Grabcar to go to KLCC. Returning home was tiring. I had to walk to Bukit Bintang to reach the MRT station, then travel to the Muzium Negara station to head back to Subang Jaya using the KTM train. I was exhausted, so my boss has allowed me to work from home until the LRT resumes operations.”