LRT breakdown leaves Liow fuming

PETALING JAYA: The frequent LRT service disruptions that left thousands of commuters stranded have angered Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

The Transport Minister has asked RapidKL to give an explanation on the LRT service disruption yesterday, the second such incident this week.

“@MyRapidKL should explain LRT breakdown this morning. Concerned about recent disruptions. Two breakdowns in a week is very worrying,” he tweeted yesterday.

LRT services on the Kelana Jaya line stalled yesterday morning after a power trip occured between the Setiawangsa and KLCC stations.

The incident forced hundreds of stranded passengers to evacuate the trains and walk along the tracks to the nearby Keramat and Damai LRT stations.

Images were circulated on social media showing passengers, many of whom were holding umbrellas due to a downpour, walking dangerously between the rail lines on the tracks.

On Wednesday morning, a rush hour downpour caused a similar power outage on the Kelana Jaya line, leaving thousands of commuters stranded for hours, especially at the Masjid Jamek interchange station.

Public Transport Users Association (4PAM) president Ajith Johl said it was shocked to see images of people walking on train tracks, adding this was “simply unacceptable.”

“This highlights the weakness in the safety measures taken by the operator. It was sheer luck that nobody was injured,” he said, describing the explanation given by the operator as inadequate.

“4PAM demands that Prasarana comes clean with its maintenance records and forms an independent committee to investigate this matter further,” said Ajith in a statement yesterday.

The incident saw commuters venting their anger at RapidKL over social media, with one passenger Siti Aisyah saying over Twitter: “Can I get refund for my KTM ticket to Kedah as I missed the train because of this? And also for the new ticket I bought.”

Facebook was also flooded with comments from netizens criticising the operator for forcing commuters to walk on the elevated tracks.

“The car should have been pulled to the nearest station for evacuation,” wrote N Liza Annuar.

Shanmugaraja Ramasamy questioned if the operator had taken due consideration of the passengers’ safety.

“Walking on elevated tracks exposes them to a drop from height, electrocution and lightning strike,” he said.