Skip to main content

Next stop, Sungkai

The locomotive joins the failed train

A routine trip to Kuala Lumpur Hospital for a medical check up turned out to be a nightmare for Rabiaa Dani and her husband.

Their ticket was for a day train ride to KL Sentral, leaving Ipoh railway station at 8.20am, and returning to Ipoh at night. The couple arrived safely at KL Sentral Station and proceeded to the hospital immediately.

Everything went well at the hospital. They even managed to sneak a shopping trip to KLCC for a quick look see before returning to KL Sentral for their 7.40pm train back to Ipoh.

The train (9032), like clockwork, departed at the scheduled time. Both Rabiaa and her husband fell asleep about ten minutes after the train had left KL Sentral station. They woke up shortly before hearing the sound of a heavy object hitting something; the train came to a halt soon after.

Replacement train at Sungkai station

Their nighmare had begun.

Rabiaa and her husband later learned that the train had hit a pig which was crossing the track at kilometre 259.00. The impact had damaged the twin tower air dryer pipe and train Captain declared failure at 21.57pm.

KTM (Keretapi Tanah Melayu or Malayan Railway) had arranged for Loko 29101 ex 155 to pull the stranded train to Sungkai's Platform 1 where all passengers would disembark. Another train, Set E203, from Batu Gajah would be on standby to pick up the helpless passengers and advance to Ipoh, the final destination for Train 9032.

It was a long wait for the locomotive, reaching Sungkai before 12.30am. The replacement train left Sungkai station at 12.34am. Thankfully, passengers could take a toilet break at Sungkai station. It was not possible to use the toilets on the failed train as stewardesses on duty had locked them as soon as they discerned the failure.

Passengers arrived at Ipoh station before 1.30am. Phew! It's time for a well deserved teh tarik and an opportunity to review what had just happened.

On the whole, passengers were well behaved with a few demanding for a proper explanation from the stewardesses who tried their best to accommodate their requests.

Rabiaa and her husband are not likely to forget the nasty incident but it has not lessen their love for trains and train rides. Their next trip to Kuala Lumpur is in December.


Labels:
Location: Sungkai, Perak, Malaysia

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Why Shamsul Amri dislikes Facebook

Professor Shamsul Amri Baharuddin People who do not use Facebook fall into three broad categories. The first group is completely indifferent to it, the second finds it mildly irritating and the third dislikes it intensely. Malaysia's prominent sociologist Professor Shamsul Amri Baharuddin is of the last type. I made the mistake of asking Shamsul, who is director of the Institute of Ethnic Studies at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, if he was on Facebook, the social network which was hatched up in the dormitories of Harvard six years ago. "I have a face and I keep thousands of books. Why do I need Facebook?" How do you react to that reply? I didn't. I meekly invited him to elaborate on his reasons. "Facebook will take away my soul and I won't allow that to happen because I am a believer," says Shamsul fiercely, who launched into a tirade of accusations against Facebook. Ninety per cent of the things you read on Facebook are either p...
7 comments
Read more

A spot of rural tranquillity in Ipoh

Your nerves are frayed and you need a dose of pleasingly rustic ambience without having to leave the city. There is such a spot for you, if you are in Ipoh. All you need to do is head for a block of flats called Kinta Heights in Pekan Lama, Ipoh, Perak, which is next to the Kinta River, one of the main branches of the Perak River. Unbelievable, as it may seem, there are several nasi kandar outlets and sundry shops in the vicinity, set in the greenery, with a view and a walking path. I suggest that you have lunch at Ramli Nasi Kandar and after that, take a very short walk to the river bank for your rural retreat. You might be motivated to spend 10 minutes or more in total silence and tranquillity. This is the place I go to again and again. Ramli Nasi Kandar is next to the sundry shop A short bridge to the river bank  You will feel irritated by people putting litter on the ground but I refuse to allow that to distract me. There is a 'Do not litter' notice her...
Post a Comment
Read more

Giving New Year resolutions another chance

In the spirit of New Year resolutions doing the rounds, I have a story to share. My friend Rabiaa Dani gave up making resolutions a long time ago. She found it hard to keep her promises made at the start of each year. The issue had given her a lot of grief over the years. Frustration ensued when her New Year resolutions went out of the window, often culminating with her beating herself up. The first few days were good but she would falter after the first week. She felt bad about her lack of willpower and would feel depressed and unworthy of respect or value. So she decided that she would no longer make them. However, unknown to her, she would review this decision at the end of 2017. What happened? Rabiaa and her husband attended a talk by Ustaz Dato' Badli Shah bin Alauddin at Komplex Darul Baraqah in Manjoi, Ipoh, Perak on December 28, 2017. The Ustaz from Pahang is one Rabiaa's favourite preachers and she hardly misses his religious talks on television. This was the first...
Post a Comment
Read more