Computer glitch affects LRT service

PETALING JAYA: Hundreds of commuters were stranded when the Putra LRT stopped due to a computer glitch along the Kelana Jaya line.

At least four trains came to a halt between stations when the system broke down at 6.16pm yesterday.

The most affected stations were between KL Sentral and Ampang Park, and it took more than an hour to evacuate passengers. Trains at other stations were able to proceed to their destinations as soon as the system resumed at about 7.15pm.

The problem resulted in at least 30 trains bunching during the evening rush hour in the central business district. The system returned to normal at about 8.30pm.

No casualties were reported although many women and children were shaken by the experience.

Impatient and bothered, many passengers took it upon themselves to force open the train doors to get off the trains.

Many passengers complained that the company did not provide any contingencies or safety measures for such emergencies.

“What if there was a fire on board?” asked Gerald Newson, a 62-year-old English visitor.

“Are they going to tell us to stay in the train then?” he said.

Software engineer Lian Yuen-Chi, 23, said the train that he took stopped about 30m from the Pasar Seni station.

“There was no electricity or air in the cabin. Some passengers had to force open the doors, disregarding the constant reminders on the train by Rapid KL representatives not to do so,” he said.

A former military officer, who wished to be known only as Khairuddin, said he and many other passengers were forced to walk along the tracks when technicians from Rapid KL were unable to fix the glitch quickly.

Rapid KL chief operating officer (Rail) Nor Hassan said they had to deal with two problems.

“First, we had a computer glitch. The system was working but at a slower pace. This is not a major problem as trains were still in operation.

“The only setback was that we were not able to track the trains on our computer monitor,” he added.

Nor said the second challenge they faced was at 7pm, when a stalled train between Dang Wangi and Masjid Jamek stations had a “door problem”.

“We quickly sent our staff to move the train, using manual operations and managed to put the system back on serviceable level at 7.15pm,” he said.

He said impatient passengers activated the emergency door release handle to get out, causing further delays in the recovery of the system.

“As this is a fail-safe system, the trains will not move if the release handle is tampered with.”

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