LRT Brakes Under Investigation, Transport Ministry Says It’s Supposed To Last Longer Than 5 Years

The main problem surrounding the LRT brake’s malfunctions must be identified first before any follow-up action is taken, says Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.

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Prasarana Malaysia Berhad has established a committee that had been tasked to pinpoint the main cause of the brake fluid leaks that had caused a couple of disruptions to the LRT services recently.

The committee, made up of – Rapid Rail Sdn Bhd, train spare parts supply companies, original equipment manufacturers and independent consultants – will begin its investigation tomorrow, said Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.

“We need to view the matter comprehensively because we had two incidents occurring in less than two weeks. We need to figure out why these hydraulic fluid leaks are happening,” he said.

“Both are related to the which are said to have become damaged. According to the maintenance schedule, this occurred earlier than the expected lifespan.

“The lifespan should be six to seven years but there’s damage now after only five years of use. That’s why we need to study why the damage occurred much earlier,” Wee was quoted as saying by Bernama.

Last Friday, Rapid KL reported another failed train at the KL Sentral Station on its Kelana Jaya LRT line.

Wee was met by reporters after inspecting the LRT service escalators and lifts at the Ampang Park LRT station on Saturday.

He said that the repair and maintenance of lifts and escalators at public transport stations managed by Rapid Rail would be conducted in stages and is expected to be completed by this September.

Wee said this would depend on the reopening of OEM factories in Shanghai that supply spare parts.

According to the Ayer Hitam MP, these factories’ operations have been affected by the current lockdown in China due to Covid-19 infections.

“It’s been almost two months since Shanghai was locked down. So, there is a slight difficulty in obtaining spare parts as they have halted operations.

“Prasarana is also looking for other ways and checking whether there are any spare part stocks in other areas, or whether we will need to wait for the OEMs to send them.

“We have also decided that these parts should not be sent by ship but should be sent via air freight. We expect to save a month using air freight.”

On 24 May last year, 47 passengers were severely injured due to the collision between trains on the Kelana Jaya LRT line in a tunnel between KLCC LRT station and Kampung Baru LRT station. .

The incident however was caused by human error.

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