A planned picket by the Railwaymen Union of Malaya was aborted at the last minute following news that the authorities has heeded its call not to close down the Gemas-Gua Musang operations.

According to RUM president Abdul Razak Md Hassan (right) , the 5pm picket at the Land Transport Commission (Spad)’s headquarters was called off following confirmation that the operation will continue.

“I got a call at 4pm from Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd chairperson Nawawi Ahmad, who said that he has spoken to Spad, and that the route will continue with his guarantee of safety.

“This means that all repair works to the tracks will be done through the line block method we suggested. Alhamdulillah, we have succeeded this time,” he told Malaysiakini .

A line block is railway term to mean blocking off the tracks where repair works are to be done during a specified time, without terminating the entire route. 

Expressing disappointment in KTMB president Elias Kadir for not pursuing the matter, he said the line block method has always been used by KTMB during repairs.

When contacted, Nawawi (left) confirmed that the east coast route, which had 500,000 passengers last year, will continue “with some conditions”.

Spad will hold a press conference on the matter tomorrow.

Spad had planned to close down the route for close to two years starting tomorrow, in order to do RM400 million worth of repair works, following a derailment in 2012.

It would have affected 300 workers.