LAND Public Transport Commission (SPAD) Chairman, Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Dr Syed Hamid Syed Jaafar Albar, led a contingent of 35 people to the MRT Sungai Buloh Depot on 27^th May 2016.

The former Malaysian senior government minister arrived at the Administration Building at 3.15pm and stayed on site for about an hour.

Upon his arrival, Malaysia Rapid Transit Corporation (MRT Corp) Sungai Buloh-Kajang Line (SBK Line), Project Director, Mr Marcus Karakashian gave a progress update of the SBK Line. He highlighted that the entire track works for the SBK Line has been completed. Other works are currently on schedule for operations of the first phase between Sungai Buloh station and Semantan station that is set to commence by December 2016.

MMC Gamuda KVMRT (PDP) Sdn Bhd Works Train Safety Operation Manager Encik Johari Yusoff then gave a short safety briefing to the attendees. Since they will take a visit to an electrified train later on during the visit attendees were requested to put on high visibility vests upon the tour commencing for safety precautionary measures.

The tour of the depot began with a visit to the Operations Control Centre.  MRT Corp Signalling & Train Control Head, Encik Mahdzir Ahmad, explained to Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Dr Syed Hamid about the signalling systems and how it manages to monitor the activity of the trains.

Mr Karakashian then led the Chairman to a tour of the Electric Train Workshop. He was briefed about the number of trains that have been fully assembled and was highlighted that there are already trains undergoing testing at various elevated stations.

A visit to one of the electrified trains was later commenced with MRT Corp Electrical & Mechanical System Director, Mr Tarenjit Singh Khella leading the way. Upon boarding the train, the visitors were then briefed by MRT Corp Electrical and Mechanical System, Assistant Manager, Ms Vanithashree Raja about the features of the train and the way it works. 42 cameras are installed on one train set to ensure safety and operation measures are managed appropriately.

For the last item, of the visit, the visitors were the brought to the Workshop Maintenance Building where MRT Corp Depot Equipment and Vehicle Management (DEMV) Manager, Encik Azlan Mahmud explained the maintenance that usually occurs. Amongst these are the track works, track geometry and track maintenance. A locomotive is deployed to the track for maintenance of these components.

The hour-long visit ended with light refreshments for the visitors.