By ELIZABETH LOOI
KUALA LUMPUR: About 300 people escaped serious injuries in an accident involving two Light Rail Transit (LRT) trains at 6.30pm at the Bukit Jalil station.
Cheras district police chief ACP Ahmad Amir Mohd Hashim said a coach from Sungai Besi stopped suddenly about 200m from the train station before it was rammed into by another train from the rear on the same track.
RapidKL executive Suffian Baharuddin confirmed that six passengers were slightly injured. He also said the train services would resume as normal today.
RapidKL communications division general manager Ebi Azly Abdullah said the company would bear the medical costs for the injured passengers.
Transport Minister Datuk Ong Tee Keat, who visited the accident site and one of the injured passengers at the hospital later at night, said he would wait for the reports from investigations into the incident.
“I’m relieved to see that the injured passengers were given immediate attention and treatment as they were immediately brought to the hospital,” he said.
Road traffic safety officer R. Perumal, 48, who was in the moving train, said that everyone fell off their seats on impact.
“Everybody started panicking and some contacted their loved ones on their handphones,” said Perumal, who suffered a whiplash when he hit against handle bars.
Airline customer service officer Andrews Pillai, 42, who was trapped along with the other passengers for about 20 minutes in the stationary train, pushed the emergency door lever to get out.
“A few men and myself helped other passengers out and we walked along the tracks back to the Bukit Jalil station,” he said.
(article extracted from: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/9/25/nation/2116102&sec=nation)
Over 130,000 use the LRT daily
Before Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd (SPNB) took over ownership and operations of the Ampang Line, it was known as Sistem Transit Aliran Ringan Sdn Bhd (Star LRT).
Incorporated on Nov 13, 1992, it was the country's first LRT project.
The company signed a franchise agreement with the government for the development, ownership and operation of the system on Dec 22, 1992. Work on the project began two years later.
It started operations between the Ampang and Sultan Ismail stations in 1996, followed two years later by the branch line from Chan Sow Lin station to Sri Petaling station. The line from the Sultan Ismail station to Sentul Timur station began operations in 1998.
In 2002, SPNB took over the ownership and operations of Star LRT under the first phase of Kuala Lumpur's public transport restructuring exercise. SPNB renamed the system Starline.
The operations of Starline was transferred to RapidKL in 2004 but ownership of assets remained with SPNB.
Starline (now called Ampang line) carries between 130,000 and 150,000 passengers daily on weekdays and an average of 120,000 passengers on weekends.
It has 25 stations throughout the 27km stretch, transporting passengers from the northern, north-eastern and south-western suburbs in the Klang Valley.
Unlike the fully automated Kelana Jaya line, trains on the Ampang line have drivers.
(article extracted from: http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Thursday/Frontpage/2359369/Article/index_html)
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