MCA president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai during the press conference after chairing the MCA Central Committee meeting at Wisma MCA
KUALA LUMPUR: The drivers of the two trains involved in a collision near Kuala Kubu Baru on Saturday have been suspended from work pending an investigation.
Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the trains were installed with a safety system, which would signal the driver or even stop automatically, in case of any obstacles ahead.
"We want to know what happened to the system, whether there was a failure or had it been overwritten," he added.
He hoped to receive a report on the investigation within a week.
On Saturday, an electric train service (ETS) train heading to Ipoh from KL Sentral here collided with another train – an Express Rakyat service from Butterworth to Johor Baru.
Three passengers suffered minor injuries in the incident.
In ISKANDAR PUTERI, JOHOR, Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Ab Aziz Kaprawi said the investigation should cover all aspects, including the possibility of human negligence or technical faults.
Aziz said KTM should also conduct a health screening on the driver to find out if he suffered from any ailments which might affect his performance.
"The accident should not happen in the first place as it took place in a broad daylight, " he told reporters at the Road Transport Department (JPJ) southern region celebration.
Aziz said the Express Rakyat train was travelling on its designated rail track and it was the ETS which hit the Express Rakyat.
He said that the ministry had also directed KTM to lodge a police report on the incident.
There were 510 passengers on board the trains during the collision.
Separately, Aziz said the vehicle entry permit (VEP) to be imposed on foreign vehicles entering Malaysia from Singapore was already in the final stage.
He said the contractor was doing the integration works for the system with other agencies including the Customs, Immigration, JPJ and Projek Lebuhraya Utara Selatan.
Aziz said as of to date about 110,000 Singapore cars have registered for the VEP for RM10 valid for five-year period.
"The road charges fee has been set at RM20 per entry," he said.
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