Like many commuters, the members of the Association for the Improvement of Mass-Transit (Transit), Klang Valley have reacted with dismay to the recent collision between two LRT trains.

The members of Transit believe that the collision and the aftermath are reflective of the extremely poor state of public transportation in this country.

The collision itself could have been caused by a variety of factors, such as human error, poor maintenance, or equipment malfunction or failure (possibly caused by poor maintenance).

If the cause was human error, RapidKL must ensure that the training of the drivers must be improved. If the cause was poor maintenance or equipment failure, then Prasarana must ensure that maintenance is improved.

It is also interesting that the transport minister announced to the media that the ministry had cited RapidKL for two earlier incidents described as ‘technical glitches’. If these ‘technical glitches’ that the minister are referring to are related to the Ampang LRT line, then perhaps the minister is wise to raise the connection.

We all recall the last incident on the Ampang LRT. The site of a train carriage dangling over the end of the guideway at Sentul Timur is quite hard to forget.

However, if these ‘technical glitches’ were referring to the Kelana Jaya line (which is fully automated and has a robust and highly-sensitive safety system), then what we have here is the minister taking advantage of the situation for political reasons.

It is because the public still does not know about the cause of the collision that such speculation can occur and pass through the media without any public oversight. And because of this lack of information, people are losing confidence in public transport and the LRT.

Neither the media, nor the operators nor the government have done anything to help improve confidence in public transport.

Letters to the editor are now appearing that suggest that the collision occurred because the trains were traveling too closely together. There are even suggestions to reduce the frequency of the trains to five minutes during peak hours and 15 minutes during off-peak hours, citing ‘safety’ as a reason. But realistically, the frequency of trains is not an issue. It is the human or mechanical errors that need to be resolved.

Besides, reducing the frequency of trains is a ‘lazy solution’ to this problem. It is a way of giving up on improving public transport, something which has been happening for far too long in Malaysia.

We give up too easily. We have given up on buses and now demand for LRT lines, thinking it will be a magic solution. Will we now give up on LRT after what has happened? Is giving up and avoiding the problem and passing on blame going to be a realistic and effective solution to the problems that we are facing?

We need to move forward with public transport - not move backwards. For this reason, Transit requests that the following suggestions be carried out before the end of 2008:

1. That the full report on the collision be made public and discussed publicly, and that this be done very soon.

2. That the transport ministry, Prasarana, and RapidKL create a task force to improve the railways and LRTs in this country.

3. That this task force take action to involve the public and restore public confidence in public transport.

It is the belief of Transit that the collisions on the LRT and the recent problems with KTMB services are symptoms of a greater problem and this must be resolved through serious action that involves all stakeholders - the government, operators and consumers.

The only way to improve confidence in public transport is to improve public transport and ensure that all stakeholders are involved and their voices heard.