Repairs to the derailment stricken railway tracks on the Gemas-Gua Musang route, supposed to start today have been  rescheduled to August 15 at the request of the Railwaymen’s Union of Malaya (RUM) to allow travel for the Hari Raya period.

This was announced at a press conference today by the Land Transport Commission (SPAD) at its Kuala Lumpur headquarters at KL Sentral.

“There have been 13 derailments since 2012, but thank god no serious injury or casualty happened.

“Therefore, we are very reluctant, but considering the public interest, we said ok, we will allow for the postponement with several conditions subjected to KTMB which they have agreed to,” said the SPAD chairperson Syed Hamid Syed Jaafar Albar at the press conference.

Among the conditions imposed on KTMB are the railway company to take the necessary steps to improve train operating regulations and inspection for safety, enforce a lower speed limit, serve rolling stock of greater quality, establish a bigger workforce and a special committee to handle critical situations.  

Also, the former home minister said KTMB had been instructed to implement a public communications program to ensure that the public and company employees are kept well informed about the closure and related risks.

“KTMB has agreed to comply with the terms and condition and be responsible for the train operation, if any incident occurs during the postponement, SPAD will take immediate action to close the route,” he added.

Spad had planned to close down the route for almost two years, in order to carry out repair works to the tune of RM400 million as a result of numerous derailment cases.

According to RUM, the shut down would have affected 300 workers and countless number of passengers, amounting to a loss of RM100,000 per day in revenue for KTMB.

The decision to postpone the closure of Gemas-Gua Musang route was communicated to RUM and KTMB yesterday which led the former to cancel its plan to stage a picket in front of SPAD headquarters.