KUALA LUMPUR: Rapid Rail Sdn Bhd, the operator for the LRT, MRT and Monorail services in the Klang Valley, said the stability and safety of the Automatic Train Control system needed to be ensured before making a decision to resume services and operations earlier than initially expected.
The reopening of the Kelana Jaya LRT line to the public depended on the Land Public Transport Agency's assessment and approval, provided that all tests were successful and did not show any further discrepancies and potential disruption to the system.
Prasarana Malaysia Bhd president and chief executive officer Azharuddin Mat Sah said Rapid Rail have carried out tests on the system and on the movement of trains to evaluate stability.
The results of the tests have been positive, he said.
However, Azharuddin said, a few more tests will be carried out to ensure that the system was stable and adhered to the stipulated safety measures before operations were resumed as the safety of the passengers and commuters were Prasarana's and Rapid Rail's top priority.
Tests for the system will be carried out by the Rapid Rail engineering team, together with representatives from the original equipment manufacturer, Thales Group.
"I am confident that Rapid Rail can overcome and resolve all the problems and issues. Ever since the cause of the service disruption was detected, the early diagnostic system and the Automatic Train Control system component change have been carried out by technical experts and an experienced engineering team, together with counterparts from the OEM, who are the manufacturers of said system."
The Kelana Jaya LRT line was first opened to the public in 1998. At the time, the line was the busiest among all the rail lines managed by RapidKL.
The Automatic Train Control system for the route is a system that has been in use for almost 25 years and it was earmarked for an upgrade. However, the damage that was sustained was unforeseen and unexpected.
Last month, Prasarana's board of directors approved an allocation of RM150 million needed for the first phase of upgrading works for the system.