PETALING JAYA: Thousands of commuters on the Ampang and Sri Petaling LRT lines faced a chaotic start to their morning after a train derailment at the Chan Sow Lin LRT station caused major disruptions during peak hours.
Images of the derailed train quickly spread across social media yesterday, with Rapid KL later confirming that the incident was caused by a track switch failure.
A commuter, who wanted to be known only as Heng, who was travelling to the Plaza Rakyat station, said his usual journey to work ended up taking an extra 45 minutes.
“The train suddenly stopped and an announcement told us to get off.
“After waiting for some time, we were told to switch trains every few stations.
“Everyone was packed together like sardines.”
Another commuter, Azhnol, 30, said he narrowly avoided being caught in the disruption after boarding an earlier train.
“It was only after I reached the office that my colleagues told me about the derailment.
“They were surprised I made it to work on time.
“Usually it’s just delays, not an actual derailment,” said the manager, adding that the LRT is his only mode of transport to work.
Finance worker Timothy Chan, 29, said: “If services are still disrupted next week, I’ll probably switch to e-hailing or ask to work from home.”
Rapid KL confirmed that 25 passengers were on board the train when the incident occurred and that all were safely evacuated.
“The affected train became immobilised after a derailment, resulting in delays and disruptions along the Ampang and Sri Petaling Line.
“All passengers were safely evacuated in accordance with standard operating procedure and no injuries were reported,” it said in a statement.
Following the incident, trains from the Sentul Timur station were turned back at Pudu station every four minutes, while trains from Putra Heights turned back at Bandar Tasik Selatan every six minutes.
Rapid KL said repair and investigation works were ongoing to restore full services as quickly as possible as at 4.36pm yesterday.
Alternative train services and free shuttle buses were also activated, including shuttle trains between Ampang and Maluri, Maluri and Chan Sow Lin, Bandar Tasik Selatan and Cheras, as well as Cheras and Pudu.
Free shuttle buses were deployed between Hang Tuah station and Cheras and Pandan Jaya stations.
Passengers travelling towards the city centre were also advised to switch to the Putrajaya Line via Sungai Besi station.
