Last year was a particularly bad year for RapidKL and the Ministry of Transport as there were too many LRT disruptions going on. From crowd control and frequency issues to 16 LRT stations being closed down for a whole week; passengers were not the least bit happy even after being compensated.
While we’ve been promised good things to come this year, there has not been much improvement lately in regard to management and maintenance. Now, KL citizens will have to face another problem as the Ministry of Transport, regretfully, shared some bad news.
Earlier today (Wednesday, 22nd February), Transport Minister Anthony Loke announced that the Ampang LRT line will have to endure constant disruptions possibly up until September, unfortunately. The politician elaborated that the disruption will occur between the Bandaraya and Masjid Jamek stations.
According to the statement, the seven months disruption is due to structural repair that will soon take place. “This period comprises two months of temporary repair works to strengthen the structure and five months of comprehensive repair works,” said the Pakatan Harapan member. He added that the repair is necessary to ensure the safety of passengers.
So what caused the structural damages? Through several investigations, it was found that ground movement played a role in the damage, which the Ministry believed to be the result of nearby construction work. It was also discovered that the construction work was done without the approval of the Land Public Transport Agency (Apad).
The Ministry of Transport has considered taking legal action against the developers for green-lighting the project, however, the priority is to settle the LRT issue at hand first. “However, we cannot wait for the compensation from the legal action. Therefore, we have to bear the cost of the repairs first. Once we have strong evidence, we will take the necessary legal action,” said Anthony.
For now, unfortunately, those who usually use the Ampang line to commute will have to find alternative routes. Passengers can consider using the Putrajaya MRT Line through interchange stations or the intermediate bus services by Rapid Bus. Good luck everyone.
