The past few months have not been a good time for Malaysia’s public transportation sector especially the LRTs. Just a couple of months ago there was the tragic crash that left many injured and traumatised. An, yesterday, a video of an LRT train travelling with one of its doors open went viral on social media.
As we all know, during the peak hours in KL, the LRTs are normally backed to the brim with people. Thankfully this time, the LRT train was nearly empty, so no one got hurt.
RapidKL issued a statement apologising for the blunder while also stating that a detailed investigation is taking place to identify the cause.
If you didn’t know, Malaysia actually has a colourful history of train mishaps. Let’s take a road down memory lane:
August 16, 2002
A 14-kilogram wheel on one of the KL Monorail coaches came undone during a test run and dropped directly on journalist David Chelliah. David suffered life-changing injuries – including a horribly fractured skull! What followed this incident was a legal battle then only ended in 2012 after a settlement between both parties was agreed.
October 27, 2006
An empty (thank God!) LRT coach managed by a lone operator mistakenly came off track and jumped over a concrete barrier that left it hanging 25 meters above the ground. There were no injuries, and the incident was dealt with shortly after.
November 24, 2007
While approaching the Sentul Timur station in KL, two middle coaches of an LRT train derailed causing a disruption of services at five stations from Sentul Timur to Sultan Ismail. ten passengers in five different trains were stranded at several locations but thankfully no one was injured.
September 24, 2008
An LRT train that was heading to the Bukit Jalil Station cam to an abrupt stop around 200 meters away from its next stop. Meanwhile another LRT train that was travelling in the same direction rear ended the train that was stuck there causing 4 injuries.
July 22, 2015
Two trains experienced brake system problems at two at the Setiawanga and Universiti stations respectively. Thankfully, no injuries were reported.
September 9, 2016
Somewhere between Datuk Keramat and Damai stops on the Kelana Jaya lane, an LRT train came to a sudden halt leaving the passengers stranded inside a packed train for 20 minutes. To make things worse, the power to the train was tuned off which made the passengers panic even more.
In the end, the LRT staff has to forcefully open the doors and the passengers had to walk along the elevated tracks to the nearest station under the rain.
January 26, 2017
Due to a technical glitch, there were disruptions between the Gombak and Damai LRT stations which caused thousands of morning passengers who were probably on their way to look searching for alternative transportation.
September 9, 2017
On the one-year anniversary of the last sudden halt between the Datuk Keramat and Damai stops on the Kelana Jaya lane, an almost identical incident happened on the same line which led to a train and its passengers stranded in the middle of the tracks for 20 minutes.
August 22, 2018
Another LRT malfunctioned causing 40 passengers at the SS18 LRT station trapped in a train for 20 minutes due to a technical issue with the doors.
May 24, 2021
The most recent incident where, 47 passengers were seriously injured while 166 more suffered minor injuries when two trains collided in a tunnel on the Kelana Jaya LRT line between the Kampung Baru and KLCC stations.
