Solving Lrt Problems Will Be Priority If Ph Back In Govt Says Loke

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Former transport minister Loke Siew Fook says Kuala Lumpur’s LRT system has been facing frequent malfunctions and needs a long-term programme to solve it.PETALING JAYA: Pakatan Harapan’s top priority if it regains power after the general election (GE15) will be to upgrade the entire LRT system, former transport minister Loke Siew Fook promised today.
The DAP secretary-general said the LRT system’s 300,000 daily passengers needed a “safe and reliable public transport system”.
Hundreds of thousands of Klang Valley commuters have been left frustrated after Rapid KL announced the suspension of service to 16 stations on the Kelana Jaya LRT line for a week from today.
Rail operator Prasarana has stated that its engineers had been unable to diagnose the problem affecting the service’s automated train system (ATC). Services on the Kelana Jaya line have been disrupted since Saturday.
Loke said: “Kuala Lumpur’s LRT system has been facing frequent malfunctions (and) we need a long-term programme to solve this.
“If PH is able to retake the federal government on Nov 19, KL’s public transport system will be our highest priority and we will solve these issues as soon as possible.
“(The LRT) relies on an automated system, and this system is having problems now. So it needs to be prioritised and the government needs to use more resources to fix this system or use a new one.
“I wouldn’t know how this works on a technical level, but the government definitely needs to fix this fast.”
At a press conference at Rapid Rail’s headquarters in Subang earlier today, Prasarana president and group CEO Azharuddin Mat Sah said the rail system’s original equipment manufacturer, the Thales Group, would be sending a team from Canada to resolve the ATC issue.
He said the disruptions were caused by the instability of the ATC system, which meant trains had to be operated manually – thus affecting the entire service schedule of the Kelana Jaya line.
In a statement, PKR communications director Lee Chean Chung highlighted the LRT’s numerous technical failures over the years and called for Rapid Rail CEO Amir Hamdan to step down over the latest fiasco.
While he took note of Prasarana’s explanation about its inability to diagnose the ATC issue, Lee asked why repair and maintenance works had failed to prevent such a serious breakdown.
Lee also said a third party should conduct a technical audit to discover the root cause of the series of disruptions, adding that Rapid Rail and MyRapid should be slapped with “hefty fines” if the disruptions were found to have been avoidable. - FMT

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