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This Week in AsiaEconomics

Kuala Lumpur’s US$100 million Aerotrain faces fresh setbacks after Anwar’s test ride

Kuala Lumpur’s Aerotrain, relaunched a week ago after a test ride by the prime minister, has already suffered two service disruptions, including one from flooding

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Kuala Lumpur International Airport’s new Aerotrain. Photo: Ministry of Transport Malaysia
Hadi Azmi
Malaysia’s long-delayed Aerotrain at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) has suffered fresh embarrassment after experiencing two service disruptions within three days, just a week after its US$100 million relaunch and a test ride by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

The most recent incident occurred on Friday morning, when a flooded tunnel forced Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) to temporarily halt the 1.2km (0.75 miles) rail service linking the main terminal to its international satellite gates.

MAHB blamed pump failure during heavy rainfall for the flooding, saying the line was shut “as a safety precaution” while workers manually cleared the water.

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Train operations resumed after about 90 minutes, but not before irate passengers were again shepherded onto shuttle buses – a frustrating return to arrangements that had been in place since the Aerotrain service was suspended in early 2023.

A flooded tunnel forced the disruption of Kuala Lumpur International Airport’s Aerotrain service on Friday. Photo: Ministry of Transport Malaysia
A flooded tunnel forced the disruption of Kuala Lumpur International Airport’s Aerotrain service on Friday. Photo: Ministry of Transport Malaysia

The outage triggered criticism from Malaysia’s vocal social media users, who shared photos of their experiences taking buses to travel between terminals.

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