The Land Public Transport Commission’s (SPAD) directive for a 30-day suspension of Melaka’s monorail services starting Nov 5, is temporary and may not last the full duration.
SPAD Chief Operating Officer Azhar Ahmad said the directive was given to allow sufficient time for its operator to carry out technical work in fulfilling safety requirements.
“If the operator can meet the requirements in less than 30 days then the monorail will resume operations as normal.
“This means if the requirements are met in a week, monorail services will be up and running next week,” he said in a statement today.
He said the decision to halt operations temporarily was made after consulting specialists and professionals in engineering, based on the interest and safety of commuters.
He said the 30-day period was allocated to the operator of the Melaka monorail to improve on safety aspects following an inspection by SPAD on Nov 3.
“The inspection revealed several areas which need to be given attention before the monorail can continue its service.
“This include preparing an emergency action plan should an emergency occur during operations, as well as translation of documents relating to the monorai from Chinese to Bahasa Melayu or English,” he added.
On Nov 1, two British tourists had to be brought down using a five-metre ladder after they were trapped for 20 minutes in a stalled monorail coach at 1.09pm.
The monorail that left the Hang Jebat station, suddenly stalled after reaching just 20 metres.
– Bernama