KUALA LUMPUR – Why is the Land Public Transport Agency (APAD) not probing into the LRT Kelana Jaya line breakdown?
This is the question posed by Prasarana Malaysia Bhd’s (Prasarana) former chief executive officer Datuk Ridza Abdoh Salleh, who helmed the government-owned company when it first began operating.
He told The Vibes it is bizarre that APAD was left unasked to look into the root cause of the automatic train control (ATC) malfunction, to the extent that a foreign investigation team was sought.
“Where are the investigators from the rail enforcement team of APAD?” he asked. “I hardly hear about their involvement since the day it was announced that the LRT service was suspended. Are they not capable?”
He was responding to news reports that Prasarana and the government have engaged an international firm to pinpoint the cause that halted services from the Ampang Park to Kelana Jaya stations since Wednesday, affecting nearly two million public transport users in the Klang Valley.
Caretaker transport minister Wee Ka Siong had said last week that apart from staff of original equipment manufacturer Thales Group, experts from Turkiye and Canada would also be flown in to identify the main cause of the ATC malfunction.
“So far, it is due to system and signalling problems. However, the government and Prasarana have decided to appoint an internationally recognised independent consulting company, WSP, as a consultant to look at all aspects, including what was stated (elements of sabotage),” Wee had said on Friday.
Checks by The Vibes found that WSP has more than 50 offices in the United Kingdom. Headquartered in London and founded 125 years ago, it specialises in train control, railway signalling, traction power systems, rolling stock engineering and procurement, communications, elevated structure design, and engineering, track design, and operations planning and simulations.
In April 2020, WSP’s consultancy work on a California bullet train project led to an investigation by the California High-Speed Rail Authority.
The Los Angeles Times subsequently reported cost overruns on the project from US$64 billion (RM296 billion) to US$77 billion, which was investigated by the criminal division of the US Transportation Department’s inspector-general.
Ridza, meanwhile, said he is concerned that foreign investigators may shift the focus on the train service’s recovery.
“It is strange enough to see two groups of foreign experts working on almost similar wavelengths. Firstly, they must know the root cause of the ATC problem before knowing what to fix,” he said.
He suggested that in-depth investigations should only be carried out after the LRT service is back on track.
“I must say the most important thing right now is to resume the (LRT) service as soon as possible since people need it urgently,” he said. “When everything is back to normal, then that’s the best time to turn your attention to find out to get to the bottom of the issue.”
Consult local engineers
In hindsight, he lamented the fact that local engineers have been sidelined during the process of recovery and investigation.
“This is not rocket science. We have locally trained rail experts as a result of 24 years of successful LRT service in Klang Valley. Some of them are retired and some have already left Prasarana. Just call them up and I believe they will be willing to help,” he pointed out.
He also expressed concern that the latest move to hire independent investigators from outside of the country would provide the impression that local engineers and rail regulators are insignificant.
“Firstly, we sought help from Thales in Toronto and Singapore as if the (local) engineers were not around. Then, the government appointed WSP and it looks like the (APAD) rail enforcement team is not in the frame. We have to wonder what’s going on ,” said Ridza, who helmed the Putra LRT team and Prasarana for seven years.
Meanwhile, a former Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) executive said it is imperative for APAD to take the lead during the investigation.
“APAD should be the party to do the audit. The agency must set the swot analysis for this type of crisis situation,” said the ex-SPAD officer, adding that the amended Land Public Transport Act 2010 is clear about the jurisdiction of the agency on rail matters.
“The foreign experts must be supervised by someone in APAD to oversee the whole thing and substantiate the findings. Otherwise, what’s the point of establishing APAD after the dissolution of SPAD?” the former staff asked. – The Vibes, November 13, 2022
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