Wee: No compromise on LRT users’ safety

AYER HITAM: There will be no compromise on safety when it comes to public transport services, including the LRT, says Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong (pic).

The Transport Minister said he had advised against the resumption of the disrupted train service in the Klang Valley even if it meant there was a “1% risk” on users’ safety.

While expressing his understanding on the massive disruption caused to many commuters who are reliant on the line, Dr Wee said safety could not be sacrificed for the sake of convenience.

“I am very sorry for the problems caused, and I share the grievances of the LRT users,” said Dr Wee as he apologised on behalf of the government for this unprecedented disruption to the country’s most well-used urban rail line.

“I can assure all the users of the LRT and other Prasarana services that I have been checking closely with its management and the related officers under my ministry to get to the bottom of this,” he said when asked to comment on the latest LRT breakdown after he attended an event with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob here yesterday.

He added that while waiting for the special team from the original equipment manufacturer, Thales Group from Toronto, Canada, to arrive, Prasarana had engaged an independent third party consultant to find a solution to the issue.

“We cannot rule out any possibility behind this technical failure, but if there is 1% of risk should the train services continue operating, we are against it as we do not want another accident to take place,” he said.

Asked about politicians taking the opportunity to direct blame on him for this round of train service disruption, Dr Wee said they were entitled to say what was on their mind.

“It is normal for candidates to voice their concerns, especially during the ongoing campaigning period (for GE15) but if they criticise unreasonably, it is too much.

“When Prasarana said they could not find the root of the problem, I advised them from the start to quickly inform the rakyat about it to enable users to plan their routes earlier.

“I also informed them to hold regular press conferences to keep the public in the loop on any developments related to the LRT service to avoid further inconvenience,” he added.

Dr Wee also said the LRT line was already close to 24 years old, and last month, Prasarana approved an allocation to conduct upgrades, but did not manage to do so in time before the latest incident.

Yesterday, Rapid Rail Sdn Bhd announced that the Kelana Jaya LRT line service between the Kelana Jaya and Ampang Park stations had been suspended until Nov 15 in order to find out the root cause of the instability in the automatic train control (ATC) system that began last Saturday.

The four-day instability of the ATC culminated in the week-long partial shutdown yesterday which left many commuters frustrated.

Content strategist Ryan Habibullah, 34, said that despite the relief feeder buses, he still ended up walking 4km to work from Masjid Jamek to KL Sentral.

He had taken the train from Setiawangsa to Damai LRT, where he then jumped on a feeder bus that was supposed to take him to KL Sentral.

“First of all, there aren’t enough buses for the number of people affected. The buses also did not stop at all the places they promised.

“It says that the bus is supposed to stop at every station from Damai to Masjid Jamek, but it didn’t.

“It went straight from Damai to KLCC, and then Masjid Jamek, so I had to walk to KL Sentral,” said Ryan, adding that due to the morning rush hour, the bus took 40 minutes just to travel from Damai to Ampang Park, which is a station away.

He described the alternatives as “unreasonable” as traffic congestion meant taking buses or cars would cause them to be severely delayed, even as ehailing prices shot up several folds from “normal”.