PETALING JAYA: The Kelana Jaya LRT line will be stopping at all its 37 stations today following a five-day shutdown involving 16 important stations from Kelana Jaya to Ampang Park that began last Wednesday.
In a statement on Facebook yesterday, Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong said he had taken a test ride on the line as part of the comprehensive testing that evaluated all parameters, in particular, the signalling stability as the train entered and departed the stretch from Kelana Jaya to Ampang Park.
“I have been briefed by the Rapid Rail management on intensive tests conducted that involved 38 trains, all the way from Gombak to Putra Heights to ensure that the Kelana Jaya line is totally safe and ready for full reopening.
“The overnight tests were supervised by the Rail Enforcement Division, the Rail Planning Division and the Land Public Transport Agency (Apad), which observed that the critical safety systems were working, without any form of instability seen. I am very satisfied with the analyses of the tests conducted.
“Apad has also verified the stability of the automatic train control (ATC) system and declared that the line is safe for full operation,” said Dr Wee, who then declared that trains would start running from 6am today, two days earlier than scheduled.
Despite the good news, Rapid Rail as well as the technical team from Thales Group, the original equipment manufacturer for the signalling system, will continue to keep a close watch on the system.
Prasarana Malaysia Bhd, the parent company behind Rapid Rail and Rapid Bus, has also been asked to be on standby to rapidly deploy bridging buses should disruptions occur.
On social media, many users expressed sighs of relief at being able to use this very busy urban rail line once again.
The five-day disruption had caused many to spend longer time on their commute.
Some also lamented about paying for “surge pricing” imposed by various ehailing companies to meet the shortfall of services as the Kelana Jaya line is the busiest urban rail line in the country. This came even as authorities scrambled to deploy more than 100 buses to help commuters continue on their way.
“I would like to thank all the Rapid Rail engineers, and everyone involved in working non-stop over the past few days in order to rectify the system. This includes all personnel of Rapid Bus, Smart Selangor and Mara Liner, front line staff at the stations, the Kuala Lumpur City Hall and all support staff who have lent a helping hand to ensure commuter journeys can proceed,” said Dr Wee, who also applauded efforts by some city folk to lend a helping hand by using their private vehicles as free shuttles to help stranded passengers.
“This is highly laudable, and is proof of the Malaysian Family spirit.”
On the issue of compensation for affected travel pass holders, Dr Wee said an announcement would be made by Prasarana in due course.
Going forward, Prasarana will be asked to expedite its replacement of the Automatic Train Control system, a matter that was approved by its board in October, with the first phase costing RM150mil.
For Assoc Prof Dr Chua Kein Huat, chairman of UTAR’s Centre for Railway Infrastructure and Engineering (CRIE), the episode is a reminder for Malaysia to invest more in upskilling its technical and engineering workforce so that Malaysians can one day handle complex matters such as automated railway signalling.
“In the long term, we should have a talent cradle programme to train local talents to be experts so that we will not always be so reliant on foreigners,” said Chua, a railway power specialist who is with UTAR’s Faculty of Engineering and Science.
