KUALA LUMPUR, July 4 — Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) today pledged to repair faulty escalators and lifts at its stations, after a public transport advocate called these out in an informal audit.

In a statement to Malay Mail. the rail operator said maintenance work to rectify some faults highlighted on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, was already underway.

"Specifically, the lifts at Platform 1 and 4 at KL Sentral Station will be operational by July 17 and August 4, respectively. Additionally, the escalators at Platform 1 and 7 will be completed by July 19 and July 17, respectively.

"As for both Kajang and Kajang 2 escalators and lifts, major repair work by Railway Assets Corporation (RAC) is ongoing and scheduled to be ready by July 5, 2024,” KTMB said.

The response was to Malay Mail’s report on X user @slainthayer who flagged the dire state of escalators, lifts, and toilets for persons with disabilities (PwDs) at KTM Komuter stations after personally inspecting all 59 stations.

Almost half of the escalators (18 out of 38) he checked were not working.

The transit advocate also said only 20 stations had toilets accessible to PwDs while another 20 stations did not have any such facilities at all.

KTMB explained today that while it was the operator of the KTM Komuter stations, these belonged to the RAC that also owned the rolling stock.

The operator said it has relayed the concerns raised by @slainthayer on inaccessible toilets for PwDs in some stations to RAC for further action.

On toilets for PwDs that were flagged as inaccessible due to being locked, KTMB said it has checked that these were not sealed.

"While some station designs were initially intended for a lower number of passengers, we recognise the need for improvements to accommodate all users, including persons with disabilities (PwDs).

"We are also committed to preventing service disruptions on the KTM Komuter Tanjung Malim to Port Klang line. Our technical department is dedicated to conducting thorough safety checks on all operational train sets to ensure uninterrupted service,” it said.

In 2022, the transit advocate embarked on a similar survey on the condition of lifts and escalators in 40 MRT stations under Rapid KL in 2022, which prompted the operator to enhance maintenance and public announcement regarding the facilities.