LRT disruptions eroding public confidence, says MCA Youth

SHAH ALAM – Frequent breakdowns on the Kelana Jaya LRT Line are undermining commuter confidence in Malaysia's public transport system, with the line and two others recording 13 service disruptions in the first five months of this year alone, MCA Youth said.

In a statement yesterday, MCA National Youth Deputy Chief and MCA Youth Wilayah Persekutuan chief Mike Chong Yew Chuan said the Monday morning's disruption – caused by a train component failure that left a train immobile – resulted in longer waiting times at Ara Damansara and Kelana Jaya stations, with commuters at several stations reporting an absence of station officers or auxiliary police to manage crowd control.

Among the more severe incidents this year were a Feb 23 breakdown during Monday morning peak hours, the first working day after the Chinese New Year holiday, in which multiple train units were withdrawn from service, causing cascading delays.

This was followed by recurring technical glitches on Feb 26 and 27 that led to trains being taken out of service at Putra Heights, Kerinchi, Taman Bahagia and Damai stations.

While Transport Minister Anthony Loke had told the media he was "personally angry" over the near-weekly recurrence of such incidents and had previously attributed the disruptions to ageing rolling stock on the Kelana Jaya Line, Chong said expressions of frustration were insufficient.

"As the minister with the transport portfolio, merely expressing anger is not enough. The public expects concrete improvements and better service delivery.

"Malaysians are already facing severe traffic congestion during peak hours and public transport services should operate efficiently in order to encourage more people to use them," he said, warning that persistently poor service would drive commuters towards private vehicles and e-hailing services, compounding both household expenses and peak-hour congestion.

Chong also noted that the disruptions affected not only Malaysian commuters but also expatriates and tourists. He said repeated failures reflected poorly on the country's infrastructure, particularly in Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley.

He called on the Transport Ministry to work closely with Prasarana Malaysia Berhad to implement effective long-term solutions, pointing to the RM1 billion allocated under Budget 2026 for the procurement of 26 new train sets for the Kelana Jaya Line as a resource that must be put to good use.