KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 9 — Prasarana Malaysia Berhad today said it had to shut down 16 LRT stations along the highly trafficked Kelana Jaya line due to a malfunction detected in the automatic train control (ATC) system last Saturday.

Its president and group chief executive officer Mohd Azharuddin Mat Sah added that the malfunction had never happened before.

He added that Prasarana engineers have so far been unable to diagnose the root cause of the disruptions and decided that the best course of action was to temporarily halt the train services from today until November 15 for the safety of passengers.

"We are still trying to identify the real cause of the disruption. The RapidKL team is currently being assisted by the original equipment manufacturer’s experts to identify short-term and long-term solutions,” he said in a news conference that was aired on Facebook today.

He said that 73 feeder buses have been deployed to five different routes along the Kelana Jaya line to ferry commuters to their destinations as a temporary solution, and that more will be added later.

Two routes are direct buses between Ara Damansara LRT station and Pasar Seni LRT station, as well as between Ara Damansara LRT station and Kelana Jaya LRT station.

Three other routes will make stops at every station: Kelana Jaya to Pasar Seni; Pasar Seni to Masjid Jamek; and Masjid Jamek to Damai.

The approximate frequency of the feeder bus is between 15 and 20 minutes.

Prasarana president Azharuddin acknowledged that the system had reached the end of its lifespan, adding that the sum of RM150 million for the first phase of upgrades had been approved.

"The Kelana Jaya LRT line has been operating for nearly 25 years. It is an ageing system that needs all its parts, trains and systems replaced. It is about time that we change it and we have plans to change it,” he said, adding that the incident had caught Prasarana off guard.

He added that the group is also preparing to add new trains in July 2023.

"We want to be as transparent as possible. We wish to express our utmost apologies to passengers. We will provide the media with status updates daily. We will try to finish the work within seven days and resume services as soon as possible,” he said.

When asked about whether Prasarana would compensate the affected passengers, Azharuddin said the company would "definitely” look into it.

In the early hours of this morning, RapidKL announced that 16 trains along the Kelana Jaya LRT line will be out of service for a week starting November 9, leaving many stranded with no other means of transportation.

Some unhappy Malaysians have even started an online petition, calling for the resignation of Prasarana’s key leaders.

Many also questioned caretaker transport minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong’s silence on the matter, including Pakatan Harapan’s Syahredzan Johan, Lee Chean Chung, and Fahmi Fadzil.