Transport minister says won't rule out sabotage in LRT service disruption

Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong today said he was not ruling out the possibility of sabotage in the ongoing disruption to the LRT service. 

He said he had spoken with Prasarana Malaysia Bhd on Nov 9, to look into the cause of the problem in a comprehensive manner instead of limiting the investigation to technical aspets. 

"So far, it is due to system and signalling problems. However, the government and Prasarana have decided to appoint an internationally recognised independent consulting company, WSP, to be a consultant to look at all aspects including what was stated (elements of sabotage)," he said at a press conference in Petaling Jaya today.

He said this when asked to comment on a report that former Prasarana CEO Ridza Abdoh Salleh had said that the service disruption along the Kelana Jaya LRT line could be due to elements of sabotage. 

On Nov 8, Rapid Rail announced that the LRT service on the Kelana Jaya route had been disrupted and would have to be halted due to the automatic train control system which caused a loss of signal between the control centre and the trains.
 
The next day, Prasarana announced that part of the LRT service on the Kelana Jaya route would be suspended for seven days until Nov 15, involving 16 stations from the Kelana Jaya to the Ampang Park stations.

The disruption affected about 200,000 users who had to switch to other means of transport for daily trips. This in turn saw an increase of traffic in the capital, especially during peak hours. 

Wee said the identified cause of the disruption was the vehicle control centre (VCC) and the signalling management centre.

He said the modems and devices for power supply had been changed, while the use of original manufacturer diagnostic equipment from Thales Group had proven that the system was so far stable.

In the meantime, Wee said the Prasarana board of directors had approved an allocation of RM150 million to replace the automatic train control system after the LRT collision incident on the Kelana Jaya line on May 24.

He said the procurement process was ongoing and would take 30 months according to the plan, which aims to improve the quality of service as well as guarantee the safety of commuters.