‘Upgrade Sabah railway’

The latest accident in which a Hong Kong tourist was killed makes it imperative that the system is reviewed, said Sabah DCM Yahya Hussin.

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Yahya Hussin has called for an overhaul and upgrading of the state’s railway system to prevent the repeat of yet another recent train accident.

In the accident, one of three tourists from Hong Kong was killed while the other two, both women were injured when the vehicle they were in, was hit by a train at Jalan Lintas-Petagas, near the Kota Kinabalu International Airport.

The driver of the vehicle is believed to have failed to obey the ‘stop’ signal by a railway guard at the crossing where a train was approaching.

Yahya, who is also Petagas assemblyman, noted that the accident occurred in an area in the Putatan district, which had seen rapid development and a population increase.

He proposed to the Sabah Railway Department that its trains reduce the speed when approaching housing areas and locations with high population density.

Yahya, who is also Agriculture and Food Industry Minister, told Bernama here today that he had in fact proposed to the department before for the railway tracks to start from Lok Kawi or Kinarut rather than from Putatan, to Tanjung Aru.

On the malfunctioning bar at the crossing which might have partly contributed to the accident, Yahya said it should be replaced immediately considering that the department did not have sufficient staff to man the rail crossings.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan who visited the scene last night said the department had been waiting for spare parts for the malfunctioning bar, hence had stationed the guard at the crossing.

On Oct 31, 2011, a train carrying 200 passengers hit an oil tanker loaded with 27,000 litres of petrol at an illegal crossing near KM5, Jalan Kota Kinabalu-Putatan, Petagas, near the scene of yesterday’s incident.