Stalled monorails – after Malacca, now it is the turn of KL.
The engine halted apparently due to a lack of ‘traction power’. The load of 183 passengers in the train was less than the maximum load allowed of 214.
11 August 2012
Stalled monorail train caused 183 passengers to be trapped for an hourKUALA LUMPUR — A stalled monorail train caused 183 passengers to be trapped for a nerve-wrecking hour on the Brickfields tracks, here today.
According to a Hang Tuah Fire and Rescue operations room spokesman, they received the distress call about 2.18 pm.
“The train stalled right after it left the Tun Sambanthan station heading towards the Maharajalela station,” he told Bernama when contacted here.
Taman Desa, Pantai and Sri Hartamas rescue personnel were rushed to the scene as well, he added.
“We evacuated 63 passengers using fire engine cranes and the rest were rescued by pushing the stalled train into the Tun Sambanthan station with another train,” he said.Meanwhile, Prasarana Negara Berhad, Media Affairs manager Azhar Ghazali said the 1.58 pm incident was due to a ‘Traction Control’ malfunction which caused the train’s engine to stop automatically.
He said one passenger fainted and two others had breathing difficulties and were taken to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital for treatment.
Meanwhile, passenger Nur Izzah Nazihah Hasnul Bahrin, 14, from Nilai, said the train had been moving normally before coming to an abrupt halt.
“The engine stopped suddenly and the air-conditioning was also not working,” she told reporters, adding that people started becoming anxious when they saw two passengers fainting.
A tourist from England, Matthew, 27, said the train was already very crowded when he boarded it at the Tun Sambanthan station. “There were still some people laughing when the train came to a halt not realising the situation we were in,” he added. — BERNAMA
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Milan (as well as Hong Kong) can do without the tram. In any case, many of the large cities that have trams also have underground mass rapid transit systems; it’s the underground system that shoulder the bulk of the load in moving people. That’s what we need for Penang. Being a fashion capital doesn’t mean it should be emulated. Italy doesn’t everything right. Milan pays for it with the unsightly overhead cables. It’s the same in many cities in Italy as well as in Eastern Europe.
I didn’t think it was unsightly. In fact, I barely noticed the cables; the tram system, with a mix of new and heritage trams, blended in beautifully with the heritage buildings in the city.
As for Milan having an underground, the city’s urban area has a population of over 5m vs Penang Island 0.7m.
I’m not a fan of any elevated transit line, light or otherwise. A mass rapid transit system should be kept away from sight, preferably underground. There should be no unsightly cables to mar the beauty of the buildings of a city. Cities such as Bangkok suffer the aesthetic consequence of putting everything above ground, so their rapid transit lines as well as power cables are in full view.
Have a look at this, though. I think Milan, one of the big fashion capitals of the world, knows a thing or two about aesthetics.
http://anilnetto.com/economy/development-issues/milan-and-penangpgcc-trams-vs-monorailporr/
Besides, Penang simply doesn’t have the ridership at present to justify an underground system – something the transport consultants hired by the state government recognised. That is why I don’t think they are recommending an underground system.
Not just monorail,hospitals,stadium,flyover etc…many built under corrupted regime guarantee collapse