IPOH: Thanks to the staff of Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB), who have been working around-the-clock to clear wreckage of the cargo train which derailed on Friday, one rail line is expected to be cleared today, allowing for the partial resumption of Electric Train Service (ETS) operations.
The carriage-removal process from one of the two affected lines is complete, and rail repair is underway.
The ETS service is tentatively expected to resume at 3pm today, however, as only one rail is operational, passengers should expect delays of 30 minutes or more.
Also, passengers travelling on the Kampar-Ipoh-Kampar route must still be ferried on shuttles to the nearest train stations in order to continue their journey, as works to remove the derailed carriages at Kampung Bakap, Batu Gajah, are ongoing.
''Those who do not wish to continue their journey may ask for refund at the nearest KTMB station.
"We apologise for the inconvenience caused," said KTMB in a statement earlier.
Members of the public may also call the KTMB call centre at 03-2267 1200 or visit www.ktmb.my for updates.
KTMB head of corporate communications Ridhwan Arshad said 140 staff have been involved in the cargo removal process since Friday.
''I want to thank and congratulate the staff who showed high commitment, and who have worked for more than 24 hours throughout the operation.
''Some of them who were supposed to celebrate Deepavali are also here to help speed up the process,'' he said, adding that he apologised to passengers whose trips were disrupted by the incident.
The New Straits Times went to KTMB Batu Gajah station and found that one shuttle bus (a school bus) was at the station at 8.45am, full of passengers to be ferried to Kampar.
Another shuttle arrived at 9.45am and waited for passengers to board.
One passenger, Siti Jamiah Hassan, 45, said she was unaware that the ETS service was still delayed this morning.
“I will not be taking the bus, as my son brought me here. Now, I have to ask him to send me to Kampar so I can board my train on time,'' said Jamiah, who is visiting her daughter in Kuala Lumpur.
She suggested that KTMB improve its alert and announcement system so that passengers can be informed beforehand that they need to go to another station to catch their train.