Loke said the drainage pump that caused the Aerotrain’s tunnel to accumulate rainwater this morning was not part of the new rail system infrastructure, but the airport’s legacy facilities.
“The incident was neither caused by any weakness in the new Aerotrain system itself, nor because the train ‘cannot withstand heavy rain’ as some quarters have suggested,” he said in a statement.
“When the pump failed to operate as designed, rainwater accumulated in the tunnel and reached a safety threshold, automatically activating the Aerotrain’s safety systems to suspend operations as a precaution.”
Loke said the other incident on Wednesday was when the Aerotrain’s safety features caused the system to be paused because a passenger was blocking the doors from closing.
He said this was to prevent the door from closing forcefully and harming anyone, adding that this was an intentional safety measure built into the new system, which commenced operations on Tuesday.
The two incidents “demonstrate the integrity and reliability of the new Aerotrain’s safety systems”, he said. “The new Aerotrain assets at KLIA are built to meet international standards and are operating well.”
On Wednesday, Facebook user Ahmad Ramadzan Soid posted that one of the trains had broken down though another was still up and running. Other netizens commented that a passenger had caused the train’s door to jam.
Today, travel blogger CK Ng posted that the trains were not in service, with passengers being transported to the airport’s satellite terminal by bus instead.
Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd said one of the drainage pumps had experienced a technical fault amid today’s heavy rainfall, preventing the automatic removal of accumulated water.
The Aerotrain has been the backbone of KLIA’s internal transport network since 1998 but broke down in 2023. Buses were used instead to transport passengers between KLIA Terminal 1 and the satellite terminal, which is mainly for international arrivals and departures.
The new Aerotrain service began on July 1, involving three trains with a maximum capacity of 270 passengers each.