KUALA LUMPUR, June 12 — Rapid Rail Sdn Bhd and Scomi Engineering Berhad have identified 13 safety-critical modifications that need to be carried out on the four-car monorail trains before returning them to service.

In a statement here today, Rapid Rail chief executive officer Datuk Zohari Sulaiman said Scomi had identified 26 modifications that needed to be carried out on the  trains, as of May 25.

Of the modifications, 13 were safety critical and must be carried out before the trains were returned to service, he said.

"Despite the declaration from Scomi that the four-car monorail trains are fit for operations, as a responsible, professional and experienced urban rail operator, Rapid Rail will not put public safety at risk,” he added.

Zohari said Rapid Rail would only redeploy the trains to revenue service when they were certified safe by Scomi.

Zohari said, while Scomi’s  engineers recognised the deficiencies in the  trains and had proposed a list of necessary modifications, these were not urgently done,  which increased passenger safety risks.

"The immediate priority of Rapid Rail is to ensure Scomi, which has acknowledged the need to carry out the various modifications on the four-car monorail trains, step up its modifications urgently and diligently.

"No party is more important that the public and no element is more paramount than the uncompromised safety of our customers and members of the public.”

Rapid issued the statement in response to media reports quoting Scomi on the health of the monorail trains and their fitness for operations. — Bernama