KUALA LUMPUR – Recent service disruptions on Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) lines and one Light Rail Transit (LRT) line were caused by specific sub-components, and do not mark the failure of the entire train system, Rapid Rail Sdn Bhd said.
The company said it was deploying more staff and doubling down on repairs and efforts to identify the cause of disruptions, in response to public ire over numerous delays in the last few days on the Kelana Jaya LRT line and Kajang and Putrajaya MRT lines.
“Following early investigations, we found that all incidents of disruption were not results from systems failure as a whole, but only involved several certain sub-components,” it said in a statement this evening.
It added it would increase the number of technical staff at identified disruption locations and provide critical spare parts at stations, so the overhaul process can be done in a shorter time.
Rapid Rail then explained the cause of service delays in recent days, which occurred consecutively and some at peak commuting hours.
The March 29 delay on the Putrajaya MRT line was due to a disruption of the track switch between the Sg Buloh and Damansara Damai stations, but five buses were provided and repair works were conducted immediately, it said.
The day before, on March 28, the Kajang MRT line experienced a delay due to a train which had a failure in its brake system as it was moving from the Pasar Seni station to the Tun Razak Exchange station. This train was removed from service for the technical team to conduct further investigations.
On March 27 on the Kajang MRT line, a train suddenly stopped due to a loss of power source caused by a component failure in the train control system.
The same evening, a disruption to the Kelana Jaya line LRT was caused by a Passenger Intrusion Emergency Stop component getting stuck under the train, and service had to be stopped for safety reasons.
On March 23, a switch on the track between the Kg Batu and Kentonmen station did not function, causing an additional waiting time of seven minutes for affected stations in the Putrajaya MRT line.
The day before, on March 22, service on the Kelana Jaya LRT was disrupted when a driverless train could not function after components in its Remote Loop Box were struck by lightning.
Rapid Rail said investigations were conducted for each of the disruptions and several parties have been contacted to overcome the issues.
The company apologised to all commuters for the inconvenience caused.
Previously, Transport Minister Anthony Loke instructed Prasarana to hold a special meeting to address technical issues on the LRT and MRT services, following its frequent blunders. – The Vibes, March 31, 2023
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