Commuting to and from work by train can be arduous as you’ll need to wait for your turn and fight your way through the crowd to enter or exit the train, especially during rush hour. It’s even more frustrating when there seems to be little to no improvements in the frequencies of the LRTs.
Earlier this year, passengers expressed their disappointment and dissatisfaction on social media and demanded solutions for the ongoing issues with public transportation. While there was an attempt at fixing the problem, it didn’t do much. But, perhaps next year would be a better year for Rapid Rail as it just announced something big for the LRT Kelana Jaya Line.
Yesterday (Wednesday, 26th October), Rapid Rail Sdn Bhd released a statement that it will be receiving 19 new train sets for the LRT Kelana Jaya Line. According to reports, the new set will be received through the Kuala Lumpur Additional Vehicles 27 (KLAV27) project to replace the current ones.
The new four-car train sets are part of improving the LRT service and the firm reportedly would be in possession of these sets in stages starting from June 2023 until December 2024. As for other improvements to the LRT service, Rapid Rail stated that it’s still waiting on spare parts to be delivered to the firm from a European supplier. The order for these parts was apparently made back in May earlier this year.
In regards to the frequency issue that passengers have constantly been complaining about, the firm mentioned in the statement that once the spare parts are installed, the train frequency is expected to return to 3 minutes in September 2023. Meanwhile, it was previously mentioned by the Minister of Transport Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong that the frequency and repairs would be completed by November next month.
After sharing the news and updates on their official website, netizens took to Twitter to share their opinions on the matter. While they appreciate Rapid Rail’s transparency, many are still disappointed about the update as it will still take another year for them to actually see improvements in the LRT service (as seen in the replies above).
Even though there is something to look forward to next year, we’d have to endure another year of the LRT’s frequency and crowd control issues in the meantime. Stay strong y’all.
