Monorail traps British duo
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.
Off-track: Anne descending from the monorail using a ladder after the service came to a halt Tuesday.
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.
Currently, the China-made monorail line spans 1.6km, starting from Taman Rempah in Pengkalan Rama to Kampung Bunga Raya Pantai along the scenic Malacca River.
More articles under this category >>>
- Attractions in Malacca a major tourist draw
- Zheng He ‘returns’ to Malacca
- Melaka Zoo expects 1 mil visitors this year
- Second Phase Of Melaka River Beautification Project To Be Safari-style
- State govt to take over Zoo Melaka by year’s end
- ‘Eye On Malaysia’ Wheel In Pulau Melaka To Operate In April
- Melaka set to draw more tourists from Singapore
- Melaka Set For 12.5 Million Tourist Arrivals This Year
- Fire razes iconic Lido Theatre in Malacca
- UNESCO gives a new breed of life to tourism in Melaka
Posted by admin on November 3, 2011 under Tourism News.
admin
18/11/2011 at 3:27 am
21 times monorail breakdown since its less than a year operation.
admin
29/11/2011 at 12:15 pm
Malacca monorail giving us a bad name
IT is incredible that the Malacca monorail has stalled AGAIN after rain, and 18 HK tourists stranded in the latest misadventure of the ill-fated rail service, just days after the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) had approved the resumption of service.
As the monorail is used mainly by international tourists to view historic Malacca City, what sort of impression does the state government, and the Tourism Ministry want to give to the outside world?
It’s such a shame, and worse, as the monorail seems to have been allowed to operate even though we know that the wheels do not operate well in the rain.
Don’t we know that November to January are the wet monsoon months?
This episode of a malfunctioning monorail is a continuation of a series of errors made by the authorities, though I am sure the Tourism Ministry is not laughing.
Neither were the tourists who were stranded in the monorail.
TAM YENG SIANG,
Petaling Jaya.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/11/29/focus/9991379&sec=focus
admin
29/11/2011 at 12:20 pm
Malacca monorail may be suspended yet again
By R.S.N. MURALI
MALACCA: Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) engineers will inspect the Malacca river tourist monorail today and it may face a second round of suspension.
SPAD chief operating officer Azhar Ahmad said it had not granted a full approval for the operator to resume service, adding that there were conditions attached to the temporary consent letter.
“Whether the service resumes or not will depend on the outcome of the inspection and safety evaluation.
“If the operator had breached the conditions, we will proceed to issue the suspension order,” he said yesterday.
Azhar said service would be halted during downpours until the tracks were given a coat of thermal paint.
“The operator faces action if he fails to adhere to the conditions stated by the commission,” he said.
Asked if the commission had come under pressure from the state government to allow the monorail to resume service before the end of the earlier 30-day suspension, he said: “I have no comment.”
SPAD, he said, had granted the conditional approval after receiving an undertaking from its engineers that the operator had fulfilled all the interim rounds of safety and security requirements during a Nov 23 inspection.
Azhar said the operator assured SPAD that the thermal paint would be applied by January.
“Only then can full approval be considered. The service could be suspended immediately, depending on the outcome of the technical report from our engineers,” he said.
The RM15.9mil monorail service, which had been affected by technical glitches since last year, halted on Sunday after a downpour, just days after it resumed service.
The incident left 18 Hong Kong tourists, their tour leader and guide stranded.
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 operations on Oct 10 last year.
The line spans 1.6km from Taman Rempah in Pengkalan Rama to Kampung Bunga Raya Pantai.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/11/29/nation/9995061&sec=nation#13225403471701&if_height=585