Kota Kinabalu: The State Railways Department assured that every precaution has been taken to ensure the safety of passengers travelling on trains between Beaufort and Tenom.The department's General Manager James Wong said that maintenance had always been in place, with the rails being checked regularly on a daily routine under three sections of the maintenance unit.
He pointed that the first inspections were normally carried by the railway patrolmen, followed by the ganger chief and rail technicians, as required under the Permanent Way Instruction Manual for Inspectors and Gangers.
Wong was responding to a statement by Tan Sri Joseph Kurup, Deputy Minister of Rural and Regional Development, who on Friday hoped that the department would be more proactive in its maintenance programme towards ensuring the safety of the passengers.
Wong pointed out that the routine checks on the condition of the rails on a daily basis from station to station, between 2am to 6am daily, including public holidays.
The patrolmen would clear any form of debris on the railway line, including those cause by landslides and following obstacles that could obstruct the smooth flow of the train, he said.
He said it was unfortunate that the derailment incident happened at 2.35pm on Wednesday, despite earlier checks that there were no signs of an impending mishap along the affected stretch, having left the Tenom station at 2pm.
According to him, the first service left the Tenom station at 8am, arriving safely in Beaufort at about 10.15pm. The return journey arrived at Tenom at about 1pm without any adverse incident.
He pointed out that daily checks were carried out on the rails in Tenom due to heavy rains, since a month ago, but there were no signs of an impending erosion that could affect the tracks.
Meanwhile, the Beaufort-Tenom train service had been suspended indefinitely pending repairs on the damaged tracks.
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