KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 26 — The government has allocated RM16.81 million for the phased upgrade of all 11 monorail stations in Kuala Lumpur to enhance the safety and comfort of passengers.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the allocation for Prasarana Malaysia Berhad (Prasarana) includes RM6.81 million to install Automatic Platform Gates (APGs) at all stations, along with RM10 million for the repair and maintenance of lifts and escalators.

This initiative is part of the government’s ongoing efforts to improve passenger experience, while also encouraging more people to use public transport.

“APGs were initially installed in 2016, but the project faced delays due to technical issues and signal malfunctions, which prevented the gates from closing automatically. This posed a safety risk to commuters with 10 reported cases of people falling onto the tracks since 2017,” Loke said.

“We resumed the upgrade earlier this year, and now APGs are operational at the KL Sentral and Tun Sambanthan stations.

“Four additional stations — Mahajaralela, Imbi, Hang Tuah and Bukit Bintang, will be completed by the end of this week, while the remaining stations will be upgraded by the end of the year,” Loke told a press conference after inspecting the APG system at the KL Sentral Monorail station here today.

In addition, the minister said repairs to the lifts and escalators across all 11 stations are expected to be completed by April next year.

We have received numerous complaints, particularly from the disabled community (OKU), regarding accessibility challenges due to faulty facilities. We are expediting the replacement of any damaged lifts to improve access,” Loke said.

Furthermore, in an effort to improve service frequency, Loke said the government has awarded a contract to procure three additional monorail train sets. This will reduce the waiting time between trains from seven minutes to five minutes.

“Currently, the monorail serves an average of 60,000 passengers daily, and we recognise the need to increase capacity. We expect to receive the additional train sets within 24 months, by 2026,” Loke added. — Bernama