Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 18): City folk had to report late to work and class this morning, owing to a technical glitch between the Kelana Jaya and KLCC stations on the Kelana Jaya LRT (light rail transit) line.

Detected at around 7am, the signalling fault caused the trains on the line to move at a slower speed and make longer stops at every station.

Besides directly affecting LRT commuters, road users missed their clock-in times too because traffic became heavier than usual, as commuters took to ride-hailing services to get to their destinations on time.

Additionally, the higher-than-usual demand led to a fare hike for e-hailing riders.

A regular Grab user, James Chong, told EdgeProp.my that his usual route to work from USJ23 to Mutiara Damansara at around 8.20am cost him RM61, compared to the RM38 he normally paid. The traffic snarl also took him 40 minutes longer than usual to reach office.

College student, Lee Le Ning, 19, who waited at the KL Sentral station since 7.30am, said the Grab system even rejected her request a few times due to the unavailability of drivers.

“I’ve been waiting around since 7.30am for an hour. Then, they announced the LRT system will be delayed for another hour. So we decided to take Grab. Because so many people were Grabbing, we had to wait half an hour before we could get a ride,” Lee recounted, adding she was one hour late this morning to her college in Jalan Utara, Petaling Jaya.

Her college mate, Twinkle Lau, 19, decided to skip class altogether.

“I skipped class for the first time in my whole life, because I didn’t bring enough money to pay for Grab,” Lau said. The ride from Masjid Jamek to Jalan Utara cost RM28, when she checked at around 9am.

Lau, who reached the Masjid Jamek station at around 8.30am, related that it was so packed that she could not even get down the staircase leading to the platform.

Twitter user Aaron Denison tagged Transport Minister Anthony Loke, saying: “Technical difficulties for the Kelana Jaya LRT Line is actually a monthly problem that needs to be resolved in the long run. I could see the anxiety on the faces of frequent LRT users (I am an occasional user) calling up their offices informing them of the delay @anthonyloke.”

Rapid KL’s Twitter account posted an apology this morning, followed by updates on their rectification works.

“Our technical team is on site attending to the signalling fault. We are sending buses to ferry passengers between Kelana Jaya Station to KL Sentral.”

The rail company also deployed several feeder buses at around 8.20am to ferry passengers between the KLCC and KL Sentral stations.

At about 10 am, it tweeted: “Signaling fault rectified. Normal train service resumed. Thank you for your patience.” — EdgeProp.my

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