KUALA LUMPUR – The two LRT trains involved in Monday’s collision have been removed from the crash site earlier than expected.
Transport Minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong said in a statement that Train 40 reached the Subang depot at 3.45am while Train 81 arrived at the Gombak tail track at 4.51am.
“This was made possible after the teams worked three non-stop shifts.”
He added that Prasarana Malaysia Bhd will now focus on track repairs between the Kg Baru and KLCC stations.
“To do so, the recovery team has to shut off the power supply for the entire stretch involved, from Dang Wangi station to Damai station, which involves five LRT stations – Damai, KLCC, Ampang Park, Kg Baru and Dang Wangi.
“Once repair works for this stretch are complete, APAD (Land Public Transport Agency) will verify the safety of the track.”
He said LRT operations today will be affected given the “power down”, and that a track is still closed after the Monday incident.
“There is a bottleneck because trains only operate with one track from Damai station to Pasar Seni station (seven LRT stations) and the time taken for a train to pass through those stations is 16 minutes.
“The platoon method will be used where two trains will be entering the track in the same direction to reduce the bottleneck effect.
“It was also informed that 58 LRT trains for the Kelana Jaya line will be fully operational without frequency reduction.”
Wee also gave his assurance that Prasarana will be working to repair the track today so the Kelana Jaya line LRT service will be fully restored as soon as possible.
“When the track is repaired, there will be no more bottlenecks and LRT services will operate at 50% capacity as required throughout the MCO 3.0, with tighter SOPs until June 7, without a reduced frequency as per my statement on May 22.”
At 8.33pm Monday, two LRT trains on the Kelana Jaya line collided in a tunnel near KLCC station, with one train coming from Kg Baru and the other from Gombak heading towards Petaling Jaya.
Of the 213 victims, 64 were sent to Kuala Lumpur Hospital. Six are in critical condition, with three requiring ventilators.
Wee, who arrived at the scene the same night, said one train was moving at 40kph and the other at 60kph when they collided head-on. – The Vibes, May 27, 2021
