|
Monorail Line
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
A Monorail Line train reaching MR5 Imbi. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Overview | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Type | Monorail | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Status | Operational | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Locale | Klang Valley | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Termini | KL Sentral Titiwangsa |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stations | 11 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Services | KL Sentral-Bukit Bintang-Titiwangsa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | RapidKL Rail | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operation | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opened | 31 August 2003 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Owner | Syarikat Prasarana Negara | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operator(s) | RapidKL | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Depot(s) | Brickfields | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rolling stock | ALWEG straddle-beam monorail | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Technical | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Line length | 8.6 km (5.3 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Track length | 0 km (0 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating speed | 60 km/h (37 mph) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The KL Monorail is an urban monorail system (previously known as Peoplemover Rapid Transit - PRT) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It opened on 31 August 2003, and serves 11 stations running 8.6 km (5 mi) with two parallel elevated tracks. It connects the Kuala Lumpur Sentral transport hub with the "Golden Triangle". It was completed at a cost of MYR 1.18 billion by the KL Infrastructure Group (KL Infra).
KL Infra declared bankruptcy on 15 May 2007 after repeatedly missing loan repayments. On 29 November 2007, Syarikat Prasarana Negara Berhad (SPNB) signed a sale-and-purchase agreement with KL Monorail Systems Sdn Bhd (KLMS). The current operator for the KL Monorail system is RapidKL Rail, a wholly owned subsidiary of SPNB.
According to Ministry of Transport statistics, the annual ridership for the Monorail Line in 2008 was 21,765,233.[1]
Contents |
The Monorail Line system consists of a single dual-way line that links areas of inner Kuala Lumpur previously not served by rail transport, namely Brickfields, Bukit Bintang and Chow Kit, with pre-existing LRT and/or KTM Komuter stations at KL Sentral, Hang Tuah, Bukit Nanas and Titiwangsa. The line's two terminus stations are on a single track.
The stations are designed as elevated structures with ticketing facilities on either the ground level (as seen in the KL Sentral station) or the first-floor level. The platforms are on the top floor, separated from the monorail lines with fencing and covered with a large canvas roof. Certain stations are situated above roadways, or are slightly longer than others. Each station is also designated with a sponsor, with route maps associating each station with a particular product brand.
The train depot is located between KL Sentral and Tun Sambanthan stations.
The system uses permanently-coupled two-car trains of a similar design to the Seattle Center Monorail's ALWEG trains.[2] Each monorail train can accommodate 158 passengers during regular operations. The monorail carriages themselves were constructed by MTrans, a Malaysian monorail manufacturer,[2] at the MTrans plant in Rawang, which also featured its own tracks for monorail train tests.[3]
The monorail's construction was initiated by Hitachi, Ltd., but the 1997 East Asian financial crisis led to cessation of work in December 1997. When work was resumed in July 1998, MTrans Holdings took over, locally manufacturing its own rolling stock and completing the project to save cost;[2] the line was completed at a cost of MYR 1.18 billion. As the line was opened in 2003, it was agreed that the parent company and owner of the Monorail Line, KL Infrastructure Group, would hold a 40-year concession to operate the monorail. The line and number of stations remains unchanged since 2003.
Since the start of the Monorail Line's operations, the KL Infrastructure Group suffered losses due largely to depreciation and interest repayment costs.[4] For the financial year to 30 April 2004, KL Infra posted a net loss of MYR 46.24 million on a MYR 15.08 million revenue.[5] KL Infra had also taken up a MYR 300 million Malaysian government loan and a MYR 260 million infrastructure loan from the Development Bank of Malaysia (Malay: Bank Pembangunan Malaysia, BPM). In addition, KL Infra had proposed to buy MTrans' three subsidiary companies to improve its business, but failed after the Scomi bought up some of the targeted companies.[4]
In April 2007, talks were under way between KL Infra and the government and the Development Bank of Malaysia to sell the assets and liabilities of the Monorail Line to the National Infrastructure Company (Syarikat Prasarana Negara, SPN), which already owns both the Kelana Jaya Line and the Ampang Line, as well as 10% of KL Infra shares. KL Infra was cited as intending to exit Malaysia's monorail business. The takeover is part of the government's master plan to improve the urban public transport sector.[4][6]
SPN gave its agreement in principle to the takeover of KL Monorail on 22 December 2006 and a follow-up meeting was held on 6 February 2007 with the government on the takeover of its operational assets and assumption of loan liabilities. A due diligence audit was conducted from 5 March 2007 to 27 April 2007 by consultants appointed by the government. Following agreement to the takeover, BPM granted KL Monorail an extension until 29 April 2007 for an interest repayment amounting to MYR 4,244,801.91, which was originally due on 29 December 2006.[7]
However, the takeover seemed to have suffered a setback at least from the perspective of KL Infra when on 26 March 2007, it was notified by BPM that it was not going to entertain any further extensions for interest repayment. Subsequently on 27 April 2007, the bank notified that it would not be granting any moratorium on interest repayments. On 29 April 2007, KL Monorail was not able to make the repayment of the interest instalment which had become due.[7]
On 3 May 2007, KL Monorail was issued a default notice by BPM which sought repayment of the entire principal sum of MYR 609,616,423.73 and capitalised interest of MYR 296,428,910.88 totalling MYR 906,045,334.61. The company was granted seven days from that day to repay the entire sum, which it failed to do. On 14 May 2007, Mohd Anwar Bin Yahya and Cho Choo Meng were appointed receivers and managers by Amanah Raya, the Security Trustee for BPM. Nevertheless, the takeover process is still deemed ongoing, KL Infra stating that it will continue to engage the government and BPM to address the proposed takeover of KL Monorail by SPNB based on earlier discussions and an approval in principle.[8]
One of the effects of the appointment of receivers and managers is the possibility that KL Infra will not be receiving any compensation for KL Monorail should the takeover by SPN go through.[9]
The trading of KL Infra was suspended from 15 May 2007.[10] On the same day, KL Infra's board announced to Bursa Malaysia that it had formed the opinion that it was not solvent and would not be able to pay all its debts in full within a period not exceeding twelve months.[11]
On 28 November 2007, Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd signed a sale-and-purchase agreement with KL Monorail Systems Sdn Bhd, effectively making SPNB the operator of KL Monorail, and resulting in SPNB taking over the MYR 882 million BPM loan.
Prior to the opening of the KL Monorail, on 16 August 2002, an accident occurred during a test run involving a 13.4 kg safety wheel falling off a train and hitting the head of a pedestrian walking under the monorail viaduct at Jalan Sultan Ismail. The victim, Mr David Cheliah, a journalist, suffered injuries that required hospitalisation. On 7 March 2003, he filed a MYR 5 million negligence suit against the monorail companies involved in the design, installation and operation of the trains, as well as the Director-General of Railways.[12][13]
On 8 April 2009, the High Court ruled that the Monorail company was liable for the incident, but not the Director-General of Railways. The matter was settled out of court under undisclosed terms. Although the monorail company reported that any such accident was "unlikely" as six bolts would have to be removed for it to occur and furthermore, a check of all 23 other safety wheels on the train involved did not turn up any other issues, the high court judgement ruled that the monorail company "failed to provide a reasonable explanation as to how the safety wheel had come off the train and instead relied on the possibility that there had been tampering by unknown persons".[14][15]
As a result of this accident, the launch of the monorail was postponed.
On 22 January 2005, a pneumatic load tyre suddenly burst and caused two women passengers to be injured. The train, carrying about 30 passengers, was about to move from the Chow Kit Road station to the Titiwangsa station when the incident occurred at about 8.50pm. The burst tyre caused a rubber sidewall panel to flip open which then hit the side of a passenger seat and injured a woman's legs and another woman's hands. Train services were suspended for about 30 minutes following the incident.[16][17]
The monthly ridership increased from 341,850 passengers in September 2003 to 1.18 million passengers in August 2004. In 2005, ridership averaged 45,000 passengers per day,[2] trending down to 36,000 in 2008.[18] In August 2008, the monorail attained its 80 millionth passenger since its opening.[19] On 29 July 2009, the monorail reportedly reached the 100 million passenger mark.[20]
The maximum capacity of the monorail is 244 at full load with 48 people sitting and 196 standing. There are 10 units of two-car trains in service.
The KL Monorail system has been designed to accommodate future expansion. The system's stations are significantly longer than the current monorail train set, allowing ample room for more cars for each monorail train. Any introduction of longer or larger monorail trains would help alleviate passenger congestion in trains and stations.
In 2004, a shuttle line from the Tun Sambanthan station to the Mid Valley Megamall and an extension of the southern end of the line closer to Kuala Lumpur Sentral were also proposed,[21] but was not approved, as of December 2009. The monorail will not be extended to Kuala Lumpur Sentral, but a link-bridge will probably be built to link to the Nu Shopping Mall and Kuala Lumpur Sentral.
The various rail transit lines in the Klang Valley were conceived and built as independent entities, with no thought initially being given to integrating them for ticketing or interchange purposes. The monorail, the newest component of the system, has been criticised for poor connections between its stations and other systems. The KL Sentral monorail station is 140 metres away from the main KL Sentral building, separated by what was previously a giant carpark (Lot G, KL Sentral) and a busy road.
The KL Monorail has accepted Touch 'n Go cards since August 2005 and the integrated RapidKL monthly pass since December 2009.
Not many escalators have been provided. Platforms are narrow and ventilation is poor. Users have to walk up and down many stairs to reach the platform. The stations are also devoid of facilities for disabled passengers, lacking elevators or wheelchair lifts along the stairs.
The seating configuration of the trains, where seats are arranged in the middle of the carriage, has been criticised as it encourages standing passengers to stand by the doors and not move into the middle of the carriages, causing congestion when passengers embark or disembark.
Platforms are narrow and roofs are low causing uncomfortable waits for trains. Navigating the station involves climbing many short flights of steps. Escalators, when present at all, only head upwards.
Ticket prices have been criticised. Compared to other similar journeys of similar distances on other modes of rail transport in the Klang Valley, monorail ticket prices are higher. For example, a one-station journey from Bukit Bintang to Imbi (a walking distance) is MYR 1.20. A longer one-station ride from Masjid Jamek to Pasar Seni on the Kelana Jaya Line costs only MYR 1.00, whereas a two-station ride from Ampang to Cempaka on the Ampang Line costs only MYR 0.70.
The monorail is no stranger to Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives, having organized activities such as an on-site blood donation drive, free health screening, and youth training programmes, in recent times.
In line with the Malaysian government's call to build up a 'caring Malaysian society', the KL Monorail implemented the Pets@Monorail programme in 2009, aimed at encouraging and teaching children to become caring and responsible members of society by instilling a sense of awareness and appreciation towards animals. Under this programme, each station adopts and houses certain animals or pets for display; for example, the Hang Tuah station hosts a Lop Ear Rabbit and a Jersey Woolly Rabbit, while the Imbi station has a Bearded Dragon Red Iguana.[22]
|
|||||||||||||||||||
