KUALA LUMPUR – Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong said Prasarana Malaysia Bhd has formed a task force to look into train components breaking down prematurely, which had led to the recent massive service disruption during rush hour.
The transport minister said that the rail company had engaged an external consultant, as well as the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), to determine the root cause behind last Friday’s incident, where some of the parts had failed before their five-year lifespan.
“Due to the two incidents reported over the span of 11 days, we have to look at this matter holistically.
“According to the maintenance schedules, the failures occurred before the expected lifespan,” the Ayer Hitam MP told a press conference at the Ampang Park LRT Station this afternoon.
The disruption of the Kelana Jaya line LRT service during rush hour on Friday was caused by a stalled train that had a brake calliper hydraulic leakage problem.
This was the second such incident in two weeks.
Prasarana subsidiary Rapid Rail Sdn Bhd’s chief executive officer Amir Hamdan told a press conference yesterday that the incident, which affected 22,100 passengers, occurred near the Pasar Seni LRT station at 4.36pm.
“When passing the KL Sentral station, the brake system on Train 62 failed due to a hydraulic fluid leakage, causing the train to stop as it was no longer safe to drive manually.”
So, he said, the operational control centre cut off the power supply to enable engineers and technicians to carry out inspection work on the affected train.
He said free shuttle buses were deployed to ferry passengers to and from the Bangsar, KL Sentral and Pasar Seni LRT stations.
The service was fully restored at 6.36pm when Train 62 was diverted to the pocket track.
In response to the incident, Wee said the task force will begin its work this Tuesday for a duration of two weeks.
“We want to see why these incidents happen and from there we can determine the next course of action,” he said, adding that the operators of the train service were also facing difficulties importing parts as manufacturers in Shanghai, China were experiencing Covid-19 lockdowns.
At the moment, Prasarana is looking at ways to expedite the importation of the parts and searching for alternative sources.
“What’s important is that we address the core issue (of the breakdowns). So, the focus is in totality (of the situation) and not only on the components.”
97% of elevators and escalators in LRT stations functioning
The minister was visiting the Ampang Park LRT station following reports of a disabled man being forced to use a high staircase as both the elevators and escalators were out of service.
Also present was OKU Sentral president Senator Datuk Ras Adiba Radzi and Prasarana president and group chief executive Mohd Azharuddin Mat Sah.
On this matter, Wee said the station had resolved the issue as the elevators have been restored, although an escalator there was still undergoing maintenance.
Overall, Wee said more than 97% of elevators and escalators in all LRT stations were currently functioning, while those not in service were undergoing servicing or restoration works.
“I have asked Prasarana to ensure that elevators and escalators cannot be out of service at the same time at any one station,” he said.
“This would be very inconvenient for the public, especially the elderly and disabled.” – The Vibes, May 22, 2022
