The recent disruptions of the Aerotrain service at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Terminal 1 were not due to mechanical failure, but rather a minor technical issue that was resolved promptly, said transport minister Anthony Loke, Bernama reported.
The transport minister said that in any system, such operational disruptions are common and must be tackled through continuous system and software maintenance.
“It wasn’t a breakdown but a technical glitch, a software bug. In any system, there will be occasional disruptions, bugs, and other issues that must be addressed and fixed. The disruption was resolved within 15 minutes,” Loke said today.
The transport minister expressed regret over the disruptions to the Aerotrain service in the past month since service resumed at the beginning of July, though he clarified that the service that operates between the main and satellite buildings continues to record high volumes of passengers, with more than 1.5 million passengers a month and hundreds of trips taken daily.
Local media outlets were cited as reporting that there were calls from several quarters urging the transport ministry to establish a special committee to investigate the cause of service disruptions, which allegedly has occurred at least five times since the Aerotrain service officially resumed on July 1.
The return of the Aerotrain service at KLIA Terminal 1 comes after a RM456 million upgrade exercise as part of a RM742 million transformation initiative by Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB), Bernama reported last month.
This setup uses Alstom Innovia APM 300R train sets, with each train being a three-car unit which can accommodate up to 270 passengers at once and travel at up to 56 km/h. This reduces travel time between the terminal buildings to under three minutes, according to the report.
The latest train system had undergone six months of rigorous testing and commissioning by the land public transport agency (APAD) from January to June this year, according to MAHB managing director Datuk Mohd Izani Ghani.
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Whatever it is, an unplanned service interruption is still considered as a breakdown in service.