In its latest nuisance to commuters, RapidKL announced that it has suspended The Kelana Jaya LRT (light-rail transit) line service between the Kelana Jaya and Ampang Park stations starting today until Nov. 15 for passenger safety reasons and time needed to identify the cause of the service disruption.
In a statement today, it said the Kelana Jaya LRT service will only operate from the Gombak station to the Damai station and from the Lembah Subang station to Putra Heights.
To mitigate the situation, RapidKL said a free feeder bus service will be provided for passengers and to reduce congestion at the affected stations.
Current situation at LRT Damai.
Thanks @MyRapidKL pic.twitter.com/6aD0QkJUUY
— faizal faizalghazaly November 9, 2022
Meanwhile, yesterday, LRT services between the Kelana Jaya and Ampang Jaya stations were halted after the automatic train control (ATC) system malfunction was detected at 3:03pm.
This left commuters walking around like headless chickens trying to book e-hailing services with surging fares and board crowded buses to get back home amidst the heavy rain and traffic.
Bersidai orang kat Ampang Park LRT sebab KJ Line problem. Shutter semua da tutup. Sian. pic.twitter.com/otCVxMa3gR
— ǟɖʐʀǟʐɛռɛƈǟ adzra November 8, 2022
Currently, Prasarana Malaysia Berhad owns and operates the country’s urban rail services that include three LRT networks and the KL Monorail, as well as operating the MRT line.
It has been difficult to keep track of the number of times that LRT lines have broken down this past year with almost zero accountability from Prasarana for the inconveniences these disruptions have caused commuters.
Jiha (not real name), 23, has to go through a total of 21 train stops to get to her workplace and back every day. Cumulatively, she spends more than three hours of her day commuting. To illustrate: you could probably drive up to Genting Highlands, have tea and drive back down within that time duration.
The physical and mental labour of Jiha’s daily commute is one of the reasons why she is enraged at the constant disruptions of the LRT lines. With the temporary closure, her journey time and expenses on public transport is set to increase in the next few days.
“Switching to a bus from LRT means having to put up with multiple stops, overcrowding and also unpredictable traffic. I will need to go out around 6:00 am to arrive before 9:00 am and if I’m late to work, my salary would be cut,” Jiha said, adding that she had to take an emergency leave due to RapidKL’s announcement today.
“Not everyone knows about the bus routes and schedules, plus the buses are never on time. Basically, if it’s there then you’re lucky, if not you will have to try other options. That’s how bad Malaysia’s public transportation is,” she added.
However, she said this disruption is not the first and it highlights that something needs to be done to decrease the number of incidents.
“Everything seems ridiculous, even the CEO is not taking any responsibility regarding this matter. It only shows incompetence. We need justice for the people who commute using the LRT every single day. It is so exhausting and these issues, it only makes matters worse. What about those who bought monthly passes?” she said.
If you have lived in Klang Valley and experienced the daily LRT commute then you would know the kind of congestion passengers face, from long queues to squeezing on the train like a BLT sandwich.
Despite this, some of us are still left with no choice but to go to work or school with it because first, not all neighborhoods in Klang Valley have good feeder bus services and secondly, e-hailing fares are exorbitantly high these days leaving the commoners with no choice but to ride the LRT.
Meanwhile, Peter Santiago, 26, takes roughly 35 minutes to commute from home to work, however, the latest disruption will double his travelling time.
“Now with the disruption, I have to either take the bus from LRT Wangsa Maju to Leboh Ampang, then walk to MRT Pasar Seni and take the MRT to Muzium Negara and walk to my office from there, or take the KTM from Batu Caves to KL Sentral,” he told Coconuts.
“My travel time basically doubled due to the disruption and now I have to transit at least twice. Of course, I may resort to e-hailing services, as the KTM frequency may be unfavorable.”
“More time and costs incurred. Such an inconvenience. I’ve been using public transportation for the past 18 years. The service disruptions have been more and more frequent over the last 2 years,” he added.
Peter said LRT disruptions are not uncommon, according to him, there will always be some kind of breakdown that will take place at least once or twice a month.
“Everyone is getting really frustrated with the services. It doesn’t help at all that the higher-ups in government don’t really seem keen to offer any kind of compensation or reassurance that the services will improve.”
“I feel outraged, fatigued and just overall disappointed. Major changes need to happen and it needs to happen fast.”
Earlier today, Mohd Azharuddin Mat Sah, the chief executive officer of Prasarana, said the cause of the disruption to the Kelana Jaya Light Rail Transit (LRT) line’s Automatic Train Control (ATC) has yet to be identified.
He said there was a loss of signal between the operation centres and trains, and this prevented the trains from moving automatically between the Kelana Jaya and Ampang Park LRT stations.
Meanwhile, another frequent user of the LRT who did not wish to be named said it was embarrassing that Malaysia could not operate such a simple thing correctly.
“I am very embarrassed that we can’t even get our public transport problems fixed. I have two siblings working in Singapore and they always boast about how efficient the public transport is over there.”
“I think what infuriates me more is the silence from our transport minister. There really should be a complete transformation within Prasarana if we want to see improvements. Unfortunately, no one is holding them accountable,” the 36-year-old IT analyst said.
Aizat, an architect living in Kuala Lumpur said while he is not overly mad at the whole incident, it was the lack of information from RapidKL’s side that ticked him off.
Aizat were among those stuck at the LRT station yesterday with little to no information from RapidKL about what was going on.
“When I reached the Bangsar LRT station yesterday, I found that it was closed. There was no notice whatsoever and people around were just confused.”
“I only found out about the whole closure after I logged on Twitter when Prasarana’s office was right smack next to the station yet there were no personnel to inform commuters what was going on,” he said.
Like many others, Aizat also called for accountability in this case.
“I wish the top management of Prasarana to answer. I don’t mind if the head honcho offers their resignation and is replaced by more capable people,” he said.
Meanwhile, social media users slammed RapidKL’s management and called on commuters to sue RapidKL for the inconvenience that it has caused others.
“LRT Kelana Jaya line is closed for 7 days from Kelana Jaya station to Ampang Park. Seven days, guys. That line is the most important line in KL, going through busy residential and commercial areas. If it happens elsewhere, this would be considered a big issue. But in Malaysia, many are still relaxed? I don’t know anymore.”
“… this is what you call troublesome.”
“The suspension of 16 LRT stations a week in the center of KL city is absurd! This is a manifestation of the failure of the country’s public transport system. Where is the accountability of the authorities in this matter? This is nonsense.”
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