This morning scores of commuters were taken by frustrating surprise.

Thousands of people rushing to work were caught unawares and stranded at the various stations along the Monorail service leading to Titiwangsa.

What is most unacceptable is the fact that its employees showed that they were not trained to manage a crisis.

As reported, a fire broke out at the rail’s Titiwangsa station.

A crisis can happen anytime, anywhere and certainly anyhow if you uphold Murphy’s Law.

But the least the operator could have done is to ensure adequate notices are posted at its ticketing counters or stations along the route plied and affected.

Instead, commuters had to climb the steep steps only to discover that all gates were shut; the ticketing machine displayed an ambiguous ‘Under Maintenance’ notice; there were no staffers at the ticketing booths to provide advice while the TV monitor seemed cool and said nothing about a problem.

And worse, a call to the customer line as displayed on the ticketing machine led to a long wait before a staffer took the call, only to seem surprised that there was no Monorail service as the Maharajalela station.

Another long wait before she got back to say that “ada problem, encik, di Titiwangsa.” That is all she could manage after keeping the caller waiting for a good 12 minutes!

This is very unbecoming of a service provider that prides itself in giving only the best.

The least that Rapid KL could do is to ensure that commuters are kept adequately informed in a crisis situation.

Putting notices at the steps - before commuters can take the flight, would be most effective instead of conveniently sticking any posts at the ticketing counter after a commuter has climbed the steep slopes.

Ensuring that staffers are mobilised at the stations to advise commuters is a must that cannot be excused.

And for a high-tech rail operator, ensuring that their monitors and wending machines are equipped to post accurate and situational notices cannot be compromised.

Will rapid KL learn from this highlight or will it take the tested and proven Malaysian approach of being defensive with a long list of justifications is yet to be seen.