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MALACCA: The city's monorail service came to an abrupt halt at 1.11pm on 1.11.11, trapping two British tourists for about 20 minutes.

Firemen rescued James Craft, a 57-year-old police officer from England, and his 49-year-old wife Anne, a former school teacher.

The couple descended from the monorail using a ladder.

Craft said he took a ride on the monorail to get a panoramic view of the historical city.

“It was a great experience. The service came to a halt a few minutes after it left the station. But we did not panic,” he said, adding that he and his wife understood that such a glitch was unavoidable.

Menara Taming Sari chief executive officer Nazry Ahmad said a faulty door pump caused the monorail to stop.

“We consider the incident a minor glitch as our service resumed at 3.30pm after the malfunction was rectified,” he said.

Menara Taming Sari, the operator of the monorail service, reimbursed the couple's fare and offered them a free ride at the Taming Sari tower.

“We also sent an apology note and souvenirs to the couple,” Nazry added.

The RM15.9mil monorail service was launched on Oct 20 last year to mark Malacca's developed state status.

But it was grounded shortly after the launch because of technical problems and software glitches.

The service resumed in March when Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam announced that the state planned to extend the monorail line by another 1.6km in 2013.

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MALACCA: The Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) has slapped a 48-hour suspension order on the management of Malacca Monorail following Tuesday’s incident where two passengers were trapped after the service came to an abrupt stop.

The commission directed the service operator to resume service only after the team of five rail engineers dispatched by SPAD certified that the service was safe and efficient.

SPAD chief operating officer Azhar Ahmad said a thorough inspection on various aspects of the operations should be conducted before allowing the operator, Menara Taming Sari, to resume operations.

“We will give the go-ahead once the necessary checks have been conducted.

“We need to be sure the monorail system works well and will not pose a risk to tourists,” he said after visiting the Hang Jebat station, which is the main monorail terminal.

Azhar said SPAD considered the incident serious and noted that it could affect the local tourism industry as it involved the safety of tourists.

Two British tourists were trapped for almost 20 minutes after the monorail stalled due to a technical glitch on Tuesday.

Personnel from the Jalan Kubu Fire and Rescue Department were summoned to rescue James Craft, 57, a retired police officer, and his wife Anne, 49, a former school teacher.

The couple descended from the monorail using a ladder.

This was the third time the monorail service was hit by a technical glitch since it was launched on Oct 20 last year.

“We want our engineers to focus on the emergency response initiative during the check, the daily maintenance records and so on,” he said.

Menara Taming Sari chief executive officer Nazry Ahmad said: “We have our technical team inspecting the whole monorail system on a daily basis and SPAD’s assessment will further strengthen our safety system.”

He said the fire department’s steel ladder was used to rescue the couple because it was deemed safer than the emergency rope ladders that were already installed in the coaches.

Malacca’s monorail service was launched on a grand scale last year to mark Malacca’s developed state status but the monorail line was grounded shortly after the launch due to a host of technical problems.

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MALACCA: The Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) has again pulled the plug on the troubled Malacca Monorail scheduled to resume operations yesterday.

SPAD chief operating officer Azhar Ahmad said the commission called for an extension of the suspension until further notice.

“The second suspension was to make room for the operator to fulfil all terms and conditions set by SPAD, including those involving emergency planning and response.

“We will give the go-ahead to resume service once they can operate according to the guidelines,” he said here yesterday.

The first 48-hour suspension order was given to the operator, Menara Taming Sari, on Thursday following an incident two days earlier where two British tourists were trapped after the service came to an abrupt stop.

Azhar said the operator needed to translate the monorail’s service manual in Chinese into English or Bahasa Malaysia so that engineers here could use it if there were problems or for future repairs.

SPAD, he noted, would inspect the monorail again in the next 30 days.

Describing the security and technical glitches of the monorail as “not new issues”, Azhar said it was important to operate according to guidelines to avoid untoward incidents.

This was the third time the monorail was hit by a glitch.

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MALACCA: The tourist monorail service connecting Taman Rempah to the Hang Tuah station has again been suspended due to safety de-fects – just days after it resumed service.

The Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) ordered the service discontinued indefinitely from yesterday after finding the auto-mode function of the rail to be faulty.

“This function is a key passenger safety aspect of the service. After our inspection which was completed yesterday (Monday), we decided to suspend the service, probably for two weeks,” SPAD chief operating officer Azahar Ahmad said yesterday.

“We want Taming Sari Sdn Bhd (the operator) to ask the monorail maker from China to rectify the shortcomings urgently.”

The RM15.9mil monorail, which started operating in October 2010, had its service suspended on Nov 2 due to technical problems.

State Tourism Culture and Heritage committee chairman Datuk Latiff Thamby Chik had told the state legislative assembly that the monorail had experienced 21 service disruptions since it started operation last year.

As part of its service resumption, the operator was told to equip the service with a cherry picker – a hydraulic crane to rescue stranded passengers should the coach stall.

In one of its previous breakdowns, passengers had to descend using a ladder when the monorail stalled on its track.

The monorail’s operation and service manual, previously in Chi­nese, had also been translated into Malay and English to provide for a smooth operation.

The SPAD had conditionally allowed the service to resume last Thursday but it stalled 300m after it left the Taman Rempah station on Monday, leaving 18 tourists from Hong Kong, their tour leader and guide stranded.

A downpour earlier had affected the track, causing the monorail to stall. It was eventually driven back to its station in Taman Rem­pah.

On Monday, Azhar said the commission had not granted “full approval” for resumption of service.

“There were conditions attached to the temporary consent letter,” he said.

Azhar said SPAD had directed the company to take extra precaution to ensure passenger safety in wet weather.

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