KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 12 — Prasarana Malaysia maintains that its standard operating procedures (SOP) during crises are proper, amid criticism that it took too long to evacuate its trains that lost power.

Prasarana group communications and strategic marketing head Lim Jin Aun said that the LRT owner’s first priority was always the safety of its users and would never jeopardise the welfare at any time.

"We try our best to ensure people's safety are looked into.

"The wait in the train might be uncomfortable while awaiting rescue or evacuation but we would never place our commuters in a dangerous position if the situation is not right," Lim told Malay Mail Online.

He was responding to criticism by Internet users accusing RapidKL of delaying the evacuation of its trains last week, after a power outage disrupted service on the Kelana Jaya LRT line during the morning rush hour, forcing some riders to walk along the tracks.

The company was accused of failing to employ proper rescue and evacuation procedures during the incident, in which hundreds of commuters found themselves stranded in the trains which had stalled due to a power cut.

"In this case, when there was no power traction, the trains' recovery time was deemed relatively long. So when there is no power to the trains there is no ventilation and when that happens, understandably people will feel uncomfortable, might panic and feel upset. Reactions vary.

"But then again, we need to ensure that the line is safe before we could evacuate the people and that's why some evacuation is longer. It is not poor SOP as accused. We were only taking the necessary precaution for everyone's safety," Lim added.

Following a second glitch in the Kelana Jaya line the same week, commuter Arif Rusli aired his frustration on Facebook, questioning RapidKL's SOPs after being stuck with hundreds of others in the train at a tunnelway near the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) station.

Chronicling his situation, Arif said that in the first 10 minutes after the power cut, the emergency lights and ventilation system inside the train were switched on, but after 15 minutes, the system was completely shut down, leaving commuters panicked and screaming.

"We were about to suffocate (because of panic, you tend to get suffocated faster), we then decided to open up the emergency ventilator window (which can open half).

"However, since we were in a tunnel, it was still difficult to grasp [sic] for air. Hence, ppl starts shouting to just break the glass door. See how desperate we were,” Arif posted on Facebook Friday.

He said the evacuation was done after they were stranded for 35 minutes.

"Nak tanya sikit je. RapidKL aka Prasarana memang takde SOP ke? Terutama bila berlaku kecemasan. The fact that bila lampu and udara/oksigen takde, u guys should already be prepared to evacuate all of us! Bukan tunggu and try to fix the f*cking bloody train for another 15 mins!!!" he wrote.

[Translated: I just want to ask here. Doesn't RapidKL aka Prasarana have any SOPs? Especially during emergencies. You guys should already be prepared to evacuate all of us given the fact that there were no lights/ oxygen! Not wait and try to fix the f*cking bloody train for another 15 minutes!!!]

His post received over 7,000 shares on Facebook.

However, Prasarana’s Lim told Malay Mail Online that the personnel put in charge of moving the commuters would have considered the various safety aspects prior to rescuing the trapped passengers.

National newswire Bernama last week reported Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai demanding Rapid Rail Sdn Bhd, the operator of the LRT service under Prasarana, to explain the causes of the service breakdown along the Setiawangsa-KLCC route.

Another train from Datuk Keramat heading to Jelatek suddenly stopped between the Datuk Keramat and Damai stations at 9.10 am, causing the passengers to be trapped for 20 minutes before someone opened the doors from outside and told them to get off the train and walk on the track to Damai station, which took them 10 minutes.

According to RapidKL, service resumed at 11.45am.

Last Wednesday, thousands of LRT users were stranded following a technical problem which caused the entire service from Gombak to Putra Heights to be disrupted from 7am.

Bernama reported that the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) had also ordered the company to submit a full report on the disruption involving the Kelana Jaya line by September 21.