The operator of Kuala Lumpur (KL) Monorail has once again blamed Scomi Engineering Bhd, the company tasked with building the train sets, for defects causing its trains to be unfit for service.

Rapid Rail Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Zohari Sulaiman disputed Scomi's claims on June 9 that the trains had been fit for operation when they were handed over in 2014.

“We reaffirm our position that the four-car monorail trains from Scomi are not qualified for service operations under their current conditions.

“We identified latent defects in the four-car monorail trains after they were put in service,” Zohari said in a statement today. The word “after” had been underlined for emphasis.

All four-car KL Monorail trains have been suspended since May 12 over public safety concerns, with two-car trains and buses currently operating in replacement.

Zohari said that 13 safety-critical modifications to the trains were urgently required.

“The immediate priority is to ensure Scomi, which has acknowledged the need to carry out the various modifications on the four-car monorail trains, steps up its effort to carry out the modifications diligently and urgently so that the trains can be recertified and redeployed for service at the earliest opportunity in the interest of the public,” he said.

A protracted spat

The latest episode in a protracted and public spat, Rapid Rail first engaged Scomi in June 2011 to undertake its KL Monorail fleet expansion plan.

For RM 494 million, they were tasked to deliver 12 new four-car monorail trains, construct a new depot, install a new signalling system and upgrade KL Monorail stations by July 2013, reported The Edge.

By 2014 only two trains had been delivered. A first and then a second supplemental contract was signed, giving Scomi till Dec 31, 2015 to handover the remaining 10 trains.

In June 2016, six months past the deadline, Prasarana complained that only six out of the 12 four-car monorail trains had been delivered. Scomi, however, alleged that they had not been paid accordingly for their work, reported The Star.

Both parties then filed lawsuits against each other over the delays, with Prasarana threatening to terminate the contract and Scomi filing an injunction against it.

According to reports by StarBiz and The Edge, this dispute resulted in Scomi being told to vacate the new KL Monorail depot in Brickfields from which it was operating, causing complications with train maintenance.

In March this year, The Edge reported both parties had decided to drop their respective lawsuits to sign a third supplemental agreement that allowed Scomi to complete pending work included in the very first contract. The new agreement demanded Scomi adhere to strict timelines or risk having its contract terminated.

The truce took a bad turn when Rapid Rail grounded all four-car trains over public safety concerns in May. The Land Public Transport Commission (Spad) issued a directive demanding it takes “immediate measures” to improve maintenance and inspection regimes to ensure higher safety standards.

The commission also required regular updates on rectification plans, timelines and faults detected across the entire KL Monorail network, reported The Malay Mail Online.

Rapid Rail then demanded Scomi step in to re-examine and rectify all four-car train sets, prompting the train manufacturer to respond by saying the trains were fit for operations upon delivery, and that it was the former who was responsible for maintenance.

Rapid Rail has yet to issue a timeline or date for when four-car trains will return to service.