Latest: Malacca monorail re-suspended (Update #1)

Update: The Malacca monorail will have a full time engineer from the China-based company that built the monorail!

TRANSIT took note of this article which states that the Malacca monorail service has once again been suspended by SPAD after the most recent service disruption.

The service had only resumed operations last weekend after an earlier 1 month shutdown caused by another service disruption.

Monorail in the cold again (The Star)
Wednesday November 30, 2011
By R.S.N. MURALI
murali@thestar.com.my

MALACCA: The tourist monorail service connecting Taman Rempah to the Hang Tuah station has again been suspended due to safety de-fects – just days after it resumed service.

The Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) ordered the service discontinued indefinitely from yesterday after finding the auto-mode function of the rail to be faulty.

“This function is a key passenger safety aspect of the service. After our inspection which was completed yesterday (Monday), we decided to suspend the service, probably for two weeks,” SPAD chief operating officer Azahar Ahmad said yesterday.

“We want Taming Sari Sdn Bhd (the operator) to ask the monorail maker from China to rectify the shortcomings urgently.”

The RM15.9mil monorail, which started operating in October 2010, had its service suspended on Nov 2 due to technical problems.

State Tourism Culture and Heritage committee chairman Datuk Latiff Thamby Chik had told the state legislative assembly that the monorail had experienced 21 service disruptions since it started operation last year.

As part of its service resumption, the operator was told to equip the service with a cherry picker – a hydraulic crane to rescue stranded passengers should the coach stall.

In one of its previous breakdowns, passengers had to descend using a ladder when the monorail stalled on its track.

The monorail’s operation and service manual, previously in Chi­nese, had also been translated into Malay and English to provide for a smooth operation.

The SPAD had conditionally allowed the service to resume last Thursday but it stalled 300m after it left the Taman Rempah station on Monday, leaving 18 tourists from Hong Kong, their tour leader and guide stranded.

A downpour earlier had affected the track, causing the monorail to stall. It was eventually driven back to its station in Taman Rem­pah.

On Monday, Azhar said the commission had not granted “full approval” for resumption of service.

“There were conditions attached to the temporary consent letter,” he said.

Azhar said SPAD had directed the company to take extra precaution to ensure passenger safety in wet weather.

The monorail line spans 1.6km from Taman Rempah in Peng- kalan Rama to Kampung Bunga Raya Pan­tai, along the scenic Malacca river.

TRANSIT Says:

We didn’t expect it to be this soon. This letter basically summarizes our feeling.

Malacca monorail giving us a bad name (The Star)
Tuesday November 29, 2011

IT is incredible that the Malacca monorail has stalled AGAIN after rain, and 18 HK tourists stranded in the latest misadventure of the ill-fated rail service, just days after the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) had approved the resumption of service.

As the monorail is used mainly by international tourists to view historic Malacca City, what sort of impression does the state government, and the Tourism Ministry want to give to the outside world?

It’s such a shame, and worse, as the monorail seems to have been allowed to operate even though we know that the wheels do not operate well in the rain.

Don’t we know that November to January are the wet monsoon months?

This episode of a malfunctioning monorail is a continuation of a series of errors made by the authorities, though I am sure the Tourism Ministry is not laughing.

Neither were the tourists who were stranded in the monorail.

TAM YENG SIANG,

Petaling Jaya.