We did it to ensure KTMB was on the right track, says ex-boss

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PETALING JAYA: Former KTM Bhd managing director Datuk Radzak Abdul Malek clarified that the company bought four used Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs) as there was a need to overcome the insufficient number of trains at that time.

He refuted media reports that he had gone against the KTMB board’s decision not to purchase the four sets of trains worth RM30mil from Spain.

“While the board had asked earlier to turn down the proposal to buy the DMUs, the decision (to buy the trains) was taken before I joined KTMB as its managing director and I was completely in the dark over the decision,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Radzak added that the lack of trains was a problem that needed to be resolved quickly due to mounting public complaints and that it was one of his main priorities as the then managing director to overcome.

“Besides at that time, KTMB had very little choice but to urgently overcome capacity problems following a surge in demand for its Komuter services, especially in the Klang Valley,” he said.

Radzak was responding to a report on Friday that the four used DMUs were bought by KTMB and the Transport Ministry despite the purchase being rejected three times previously by the company’s board.

He explained that the DMUs were bought under the Government’s stimulus package and that the ministry proposed that the used trains be bought as a stop-gap measure.

It is learnt that the Finance Ministry had approved the purchase of the four DMUs on May 19.

“We bought used DMUs and not Electric Multiple Units (EMUs) because there were no used EMUs readily available anywhere in the world then,” Radzak said, adding that buying new sets would require a waiting period of up to three years which was a delay that KTMB could not afford.

On the purchase price of the DMUs, he said the ministry had explained on Wednesday that each set of the DMU costs 1.492mil (RM7.6mil), which was cheaper than the units bought by Costa Rica at 2mil (RM10.2mil) per set.

“Claims that the sets bought by KTMB were more expensive is grossly untrue. Insinuations or claims otherwise are grossly untrue and malicious,” he added.

Meanwhile, KTMB said the DMUs bought from Spain, although they were 20 years old, had been refurbished well by the supplier and were expected to be good for use for another 15 to 20 years.

Under normal circumstances, such trains could last some 40 years with scheduled inspections enforced, as demonstrated by the trains used in Europe and other countries.

“As for the DMU’s speed of 80kph, it is sufficient for commuter service because the service lines involved many stop pits in a short distance,” KTMB said in a press statement.

KTMB also refuted allegations that the maintenance cost was higher for DMUs compared to EMUs.