'Cable thefts cause KTMB network over 1k hours of delay, disruption this year'

Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd (KTMB) faced hundreds of hours of delay and disruption throughout this year due to cable thefts, said Transport Minister Anthony Loke.

The cable theft, he said, had caused 562 hours of delays to the Electric Train Service (ETS) and 741 hours of disruption of KTM Komuter service, in which the national railway operator had collaborated with enforcement agencies as immediate action to address this issue.

“Among the immediate actions are conducting special operations and 24-hour patrols by KTM auxiliary police personnel in hotspot areas, especially in the Klang Valley area, as well as having intelligence and surveillance in high-risk locations.

“(KTMB has also installed) 193 cemented cable manhole covers in the northern sector and repair of leaky fences as well as proposed installation of CCTV cameras and use of drones at hotspot locations,” he said in a written parliamentary reply to Kampar MP Chong Zhemin yesterday.

He added that a total of 104 cases of cable theft was recorded throughout January till August this year, in which, the highest number of cases was recorded in Perak (38), followed by Selangor (37) and Kedah (19).

Other cases were in Negeri Sembilan (four), three in Penang (three), two in Kuala Lumpur (two) and one in Pahang (one).

KTMB’s chief operating officer Zain Mat Taha had said that cable theft amounts to sabotage of railway infrastructure and could threaten the safety of hundreds of passengers while also crippling public transportation.

Following this, the railway operator said it’s planning to upgrade its signalling network, as part of their mitigation measure, which would involve an estimated cost of RM12.8 million annually over the next three years, with a focus on hotspot areas.

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