Rapid Rail Sdn Bhd, in a statement today, said for Monorail stations, which were originally designed without lifts, civil works and installation of the facility will start in stages in April 2023 and were expected to be fully completed by May 2024.

It said for the elevator and escalator repairs, spare parts had been ordered from the original manufacturer (OEM) in Shanghai, China, and repairs would be carried out in stages.

The service operator said the first batch is expected to arrive this month, the second in mid-November and the third two weeks later. They involve 87 handrail units and 37 escalator step chain units.

“Rapid Rail is aware of the escalator and elevator breakdowns at several train stations and follow-up action will be taken.

“We will update the status of the repair and installation works through the mass media and our social media channels,” it added.

As of yesterday, 22 of the 362 elevator units were not functioning while 49 out of 707 escalators were out of order.

The company said as a long-term measure, it had implemented a “condition-based maintenance programme” in which regular maintenance will be performed when certain indicators showed signs of decreasing performance or upcoming failure.

Based on this programme, Rapid Rail had ordered 192 handrail units and 22 step chain units required at all routes.