With the presence of H1N1 and renewed efforts by the Ministry of Health to remind people to keep themselves clean and prevent disease, TRANSIT took a survey of the RapidKL LRT system.
We really have to ask, what is that black stuff stuck in the grooves of the hand straps of the Kelana Jaya line trains?
A handstrap from a RapidKL Kelana Jaya Line LRT train - does anyone know what the black stuff is? Whether it is safe or not?
And now for something completely disgusting ….
TRANSIT also takes note of 3 letters sent by patrons of RapidKL who suffered skin infection or allergy after sitting on seats in RapidKL’s Kelana Jaya line trains – the same source of those wonderfully cruddy porous rubber straps shown above.
- 26 August 2009 – Scarred by train seat infection (The Sun)
- 27 August 2009 – Disinfect train seats (The Sun)
- 27 August 2009 – The bugs got me too (The Sun)
TRANSIT Says:
It may just be that the cause of the reported infections was a single passenger who was careless about their own personal hygiene. It could be an allergic reaction to a person’s sweat or insects/mites residing in the crevices of the train seats.
However, the onus is on RapidKL to maintain cleanliness and for this reason, TRANSIT calls upon RapidKL to do the following:
- Initiate a proper audit of cleanliness on RapidKL trains;
- Replace all porous rubber hand straps with plastic straps;
- Introduce antibacterial paint/surface coatings on grab bars;
- Introduce an independent inspection program that checks bacteria levels on seats, handstraps, ticket vending machines and other surfaces on a regular basis;
- Make the results of those inspections public;
TRANSIT also reminds patrons to:
- Maintain hygienic practices by avoiding contact with surfaces-use handkerchiefs or tissues if you must touch grab bars/straps, etc.;
- Wash your hands regularly or use hand sanitizer gel, especially after touching surfaces;
- Wear appropriate clothing or use a handkerchief to cover seats – avoid skin to seat contact if possible;
- Take adequate precautions such as wearing a mask if you are displaying symptoms of allergies, infections or influenza-like illness.
Filed under: Complaints - RapidKL, Feedback, Information, Mass Transit (LRT/MRT/METRO) Tagged: | hygiene & cleanliness, rapidKL
the hand strap in KJL train now cleaner than before. that’s from my observation during my 3 days in KL last weekend.
Just noticed today that the old, thick and smelly straps have been replaced by new ones : they are slimmer, more rigid and red. A definite improvement!
Florian
If you can, please take a photo of the new straps.
Regards, Moaz for TRANSIT
Sure.
Please find it here : http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/6664/21102009j.jpg
Sorry for the poor quality.
The straps are really nice:
- Not smelly anymore
- More rigid (less prone to wear and tear I’d say)
Thanks for the update
Moaz for TRANSIT