KUALA LUMPUR: Commuters using the light rail transit (LRT) service should expect intermittent disruptions on the service before it improves in the third quarter of next year.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook apologised to commuters, saying major maintenance was currently being done to the LRT system in terms of power generator, power trip and signaling system to ensure a safe ride.
"We acknowledge that the operations are not stable and there will be service disruption from time to time. However, we will do our best to ensure safe and smooth operations.
"I apologise to the commuters. We acknowledge that the operations are not stable and there will be service disruption from time to time. However, we will do our best to ensure a safe and smooth operations for everyone in the coming months," Loke told a press conference today.
He added that the operations of the LRT Kelana Jaya line are expected to be fully rectified and improved by the third quarter of next year when a total of 56 trains would be deployed to ensure minimum interval time for passengers.
"At the moment, only 38 trains are operating on the Kelana Jaya line, which has a five-minute interval time.
"Optimally, we need to lower it to a three-minute interval time to avoid passenger congestion. For that, we would need 48 trains to be fully operated.
"However, a total of 18 train sets are going through maintenance works such as having tachometer changes and so on,"
Loke added that more trains would be operated and added to reduce interval time after having maintenance works completed.
"Prasarana Malaysia Bhd (Prasarana) has also bought 19 train sets which are expected to be used by October 2023. The new train sets are important to ensure good, quick and comfortable services to the passengers," said Loke.
He also said the full report for the service disruption that caused 16 LRT stations at the Kelana Jaya line to be suspended last month would be revealed by the independent legal body, WSP, soon.
"One of the major causes of the disruption was due to the overcapacity of passengers daily, which is at 200,000 and this is the most crowded and congested line.
"The independent report by WSP would be made public by Prasarana so that the public knows what was the actual root cause of the disruption. The report on the closure of LRT would also be presented to the Cabinet," he said.
Last month, Prasarana announced that its LRT services between the Kelana Jaya and Ampang Jaya stations were halted for safety purposes, after a malfunction in its automatic train control (ATC) system was detected.
Following the malfunction, a total of 16 stations along the Kelana Jaya line were closed and suspended from operating from Nov 9 to Nov 15.