Malaysia Oversight

‘We expect better’: MAHB calls for thorough review by contractor after KLIA Aerotrain glitch

By MalayMail in September 4, 2025 – Reading time 2 minute
email


, Sept 4 — Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) has assured passengers of its commitment to delivering safe, reliable and efficient services following a technical issue that briefly disrupted the KLIA Aerotrain service yesterday.

MAHB managing director Datuk Mohd Izani Ghani said the incident was caused by a dislodged current collector device (CCD), which led to a temporary loss of power to one of the trains.

“We are equally disappointed, considering that the Aerotrain had just undergone a scheduled two-week maintenance involving all contractors. I have been made to understand by the Aerotrain’s project coordination lead, Alstom, that the cause of yesterday’s incident was a dislodged CCD that triggered a loss of power to the train.

“In our ongoing discussions, Alstom has agreed to provide a more detailed explanation regarding the dislodged CCD. I have also requested for Alstom to thoroughly investigate and vigilantly work with our own engineering teams during the daily train maintenance hours to identify potential risks,” he said in a statement today.

He said despite the glitch, the Aerotrain’s operational service indicators showed significant improvements since its relaunch in July 2025, with the Aerotrain recording an overall operational service availability of 97.27 per cent, rising to 99.93 per cent in August.

Passenger numbers transferred between the main and satellite terminals via the Aerotrain also showed an upward trend, with 1.4 million passengers in July and 1.7 million passengers in August.

Cumulatively, the three Aerotrains logged an average of 10,586 kilometres in July and 10,723 kilometres in August. Two trains demonstrated increased mileage in the last week of August, with Train 1 logging 2,530 kilometres between August 21 and 27, up from 1,765 kilometres the previous week, while Train 2 recorded 2,373 kilometres, up from 2,035 kilometres.

“These achievements underscore MAHB’s continuous efforts to enhance system performance and passenger experience. However, as the airport operator, we expect better. We will continue to work with Alstom to implement comprehensive measures, including ongoing software updates and system enhancements, to ensure that such disruptions are minimised moving forward,” Mohd Izani said.

He added that MAHB has also requested an exhaustive remediation plan to prevent future occurrences.

Meanwhile, Alstom Malaysia country managing director Sim Ooi Kok said the company was working closely with its supplier to support a thorough investigation into the root cause of the incident, preliminarily attributed to the CCD.

“This incident is not reflective of the overall performance of the newly relaunched Aerotrain system. As a precautionary and corrective measure to reinforce system reliability, all CCDs will be inspected daily to detect any signs of abnormality,” he said.

It was reported that a power trip caused one of the Aerotrains at Kuala Lumpur International Airport to halt temporarily yesterday at 1.36pm as it approached the satellite terminal. — Bernama



Source link