Trains 'disappeared' from our control screens on Nov 8, says Prasarana

PETALING JAYA: The disruption of the Kelana Jaya LRT signalling system on Tuesday (Nov 8) evening was characterised by some trains "disappearing" intermittently from the monitoring screen of the LRT operation and control centre, posing a huge hazard, says Prasarana Malaysia.

This was revealed by Prasarana group CEO Mohd Azharuddin Mat Sah at a press conference here Thursday (Nov 10) morning, as he gave an update on the latest moves to solve the problem that is affecting the stretch covering 16 stations - from Kelana Jaya to Ampang Park - that began last Saturday (Nov 5).

"The trains were unable to move automatically, which indicates a problem.

"We could not see the trains on our screens, and that is very important for us.

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"As an accountable organisation, we had to make the very tough call to suspend operations (for a week starting Nov 9). We acknowledge it greatly inconvenienced many, but we certainly do not want any recurrence of May 2021's incident (where two trains, one driven manually, collided head-on in the tunnel between Kampung Baru and KLCC)."

He added that Rapid KL engineers ran a train between Ampang Park and KLCC at 10pm on Wednesday (Nov 9) night in order to generate some data for analysis.

"The original equipment manufacturer of the train signaling system, Thales Group, will examine the test logs tonight."

For the past few days, Rapid Rail engineers have performed software updates, swapped modems, and replaced power supply components in order to narrow down the source of the intermittent loss of signalling, which threatens the entire foundation behind fully automated rail lines.

ALSO READ: Joint team to probe root cause

"We will continue with strenuous testing to ensure the issues can be rectified as soon as possible."

Typically, any signalling loss in automated metro systems will cause the activation of emergency brakes that will either halt the trains wherever they are, or cause them to run on a "crawl mode" to minimise risks.

For passengers, this could result in either a jerky ride, or trains stopping for much longer than necessary at platforms.

For trains that are halted in between stations, it is usual for technicians to access these trains to perform a "reset", before these trains can move on, and sometimes, manual driving may be necessary, depending on the nature of the problem.

However, manual driving on a high service frequency line poses yet another risk factor affecting safety, which will never be compromised by any responsible operator.