KUALA LUMPUR: Rapid Rail has apologised for a technical glitch on the city’s monorail service which caused a temporary service halt for all monorail trains on Tuesday (Oct 6) morning.
Rapid Rail’s chief operating officer Mohd Ariffin Idris said the glitch was due to a work car that was stuck on the rail while on its way back to the monorail depot in Brickfields here.
”The work car is the maintenance vehicle that is sent out every night to inspect and maintain the trains.
”The second work car was stuck at the fourth switch on the rail on its way back at 4.35am, causing all the other passenger trains unable to go out to serve their routes.
”We apologise for the inconvenience caused to passengers this morning,” he told the press at the depot here Tuesday.
Mohd Ariffin estimated that about 20,000 passengers – some three-quarters of Monorail KL’s 28,000 daily passengers – were affected by the glitch during the morning rush hours.
The monorail service that was supposed to begin at 6am only resumed at about 8am via the manual system.
He said that following the incident, Rapid Rail has taken immediate action to remove the work car, which took over an hour.
”After removing the work car, we proceeded to redo the switch’s alignment and managed to release the first passenger train via manual hand crank at 7.57am. The fully automatic monorail service was only fully restored at 9.42am,” he added.
When asked, Mohd Ariffin said Rapid Rail took quick steps to inform and advise passengers to take alternative mode of transport.
”Other than updates on the social media platforms, we also mobilised our staff at stations early to tell passengers about the glitch.
”This has helped to minimise the inconvenience caused on the passengers,” he added.
Meanwhile, Prasarana Malaysia Bhd chairman Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman said the government is concerned about the welfare of the passengers.
He said this when present for a site visit at the depot,
”I had a meeting with the management and the people responsible for the works. I’m glad to see the problems being resolved, thanks to the efficient technical team,” he said.
While hoping for passengers’ understanding, Tajuddin said Rapid Rail will pick up speed and provide excellent service to the people. -The Star