KUALA LUMPUR, May 29 — Landasan Transit Aliran Ringan (LRT) Laluan Ampang/Sri Petaling yang terjejas akibat insiden tren tergelincir berhampiran Stesen Chan Sow Lin semalam dijangka dapat beroperasi semula selewat-lewatnya Rabu depan.
Menteri Pengangkutan Anthony Loke Siew Fook berkata tren terbabit dijadualkan dialihkan hari ini menggunakan kren sebelum kerja pembaikan landasan dimulakan.
He said the incident occurred during the track change process when the first carriage of the six train carriages was on the correct track heading towards Putra Heights, but the next carriage strayed onto the track heading towards Ampang.
“This situation caused the traction from the carriage behind to pull the first carriage out, thus causing the first and second carriages to completely derail.”
“The reason why the switch system or track change equipment did not function properly as it should needs to be investigated in detail,” he told reporters after inspecting the incident location about 250 metres from the Chan Sow Lin LRT Station, here, today.
Meanwhile, Loke said the special task force established to investigate the incident was an independent team without the involvement of representatives from Prasarana Malaysia Bhd (Prasarana), led by the Chief Inspector of Air Accidents of the Air Accident Investigation Bureau (BSKU), Major General Tan Chee Kee, as well as experts in the field of rail engineering.
He said the team was given a maximum period of 30 days to complete the investigation report before submitting it to the Cabinet for follow-up action.
“The investigation will examine whether the incident was caused by human error, system malfunction or system failure. The report will also be made public to ensure transparency in the investigation,” he said.
In addition, the investigation also includes examining the maintenance regime by Prasarana, records and system logs related to the incident including operations at the Operations Control Centre (OCC), the signalling system as well as other factors that may have contributed to the incident.
Loke said statements from staff working at OCC, train drivers and related individuals would be taken to identify the true cause of the incident.
He also did not rule out the possibility of a more comprehensive internal audit being carried out on the entire rail transit system operated by Prasarana, including LRT and Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) services.
Regarding current operations, Loke said all stations on the Ampang/Sri Petaling line are still operating, but using a modified schedule to allow train movements to continue.
He said that for now, passengers will have to change trains at certain stations with the arrival interval (frequency) increasing to between six and eight minutes until the repair work is completed.
In an incident yesterday morning, an Ampang/Sri Petaling Line train derailed near Chan Sow Lin Station due to a faulty track switch, which affected the service schedule, however all 25 passengers involved were safely evacuated without any injuries.
— BERNAMA
