Commuters stranded as LRT breaks down 
Malaysiakini
Oct  6, 2006
Wong Yeen Fern

Thousands of commuters rushing for work and school at 7.30am in Kuala Lumpur were stranded when the Rapid KL (Putra Line) Light Rail Transit system broke down today due to technical problems.

The problem started from the Datuk Keramat station and affected subsequent stations from Ampang Park to the Jelatek station.

When contacted at 11am, the Rapid KL headquarters said that their men were carrying out repair works at the affected stations.

The problem was confirmed to be ‘technical’.

The entire line was shut down from 7.30am to 8.07am. However, certain sectors were reopened at 8.10am where passengers were advised by Putra Line attendants on the temporary schedules of the trains.

Alternative transport

Many of the stranded were office workers and students. Many took alternative modes of transport.

Today’s breakdown was the second for the Putra Line. On July 24 this year, a similar disruption occurred for several hours in the late afternoon when the passengers were heading home from work.

At that time, Rapid KL chief executive officer Rein Westra said that the system experienced computer glitch which resulted in loss of train tracking on the monitor screen in the control centre.

However, he said that the trains were still in operational mode but in slower pace.