SPAD to form special committee to probe LRT brake failure incidents

The Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) will set up a special committee to investigate the brake failure incidents on the Light Rail Transit (LRT) at two separate locations, yesterday.

Its chairman Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar said the investigations would be completed within two or three months, and if there were elements of negligence or criminal activities, it would be forwarded to the Attorney-General for further action.

Elaborating, he said the committee would be composed of experts, including representatives from SPAD itself.

"The report will contain the cause of the incident and proposed improvements, we will also get a report from Prasarana Malaysia Berhad to be combined with this report," he told Bernama today.

Yesterday, two LRT trains along the Kelana Jaya line experienced brake failures, one near the Setiawangsa Station at 8am, and another at 12.18pm at the Universiti Station in Petaling Jaya, causing temporary disruptions along the route.

"The trains have been checked periodically, in accordance with Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that were set, it may also have occurred due to the weather. Therefore, we cannot make early assumptions," said Syed Hamid.

He explained that SPAD always investigated any incident relating to LRT services, and it would not compromise on the safety of passengers.

In the meantime, when asked about the Prime Minister's call to have a safety audit conducted on the LRT service, he said he agreed with it, because the incident was considered serious.

"We view them as serious incidents, because they caused a fire, and could have been life-threatening to passengers," he said, while praising the swift action taken by Prasarana in regulating the incidents.