KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA-A
world-class passenger information system will be a feature of Kuala Lumpur's breakthrough
metrorail system, due to open next April in time for the 1998 Commonwealth Games.
The fully automated 18-mile
metrorail commuter rail line, awarded as a private concession on a 60-year contract to
build, operate, and maintain, traverses the Malaysian capital from the Subang depot in the
west to the Putra terminal in the northeast. It will run with 35 two-car train sets
powered by linear induction motors and supplied by a Canadian consortium led by
Bombardier.
The contract is worth $700
million and includes LIM rails, maintenance, and communication equipment along with the
Seltrac ATC system for automated operations.
The advanced passenger
information system includes double-faced LED platform displays with 5.5-inch-high
characters that will show the arrival time of the next train due. Data will be received
through the Seltrac system via a fiber optics communication network. The signs will also
display locally generated messages in English and the local Bahasa Melayu language. A
platform PA system linked with Seltrac will also make automatic spoken train arrival and
safety announcements.
On-board passenger information
will also be conveyed automatically in both languages by a digital audio unit with
messages triggered by a radio data link via the ATC system. Next station announcements
will be supplemented by a digital route display- in each car on which the next station
will light up as it is announced. The audio/visual messages can be overridden by control
room operators or from a call station on each train located behind a locked panel to which
only staff will have access.
Passenger access panels for
emergency use (that are also friendly to persons with disabilities) will be available on
each train car, providing interactive speech communication over an emergency radio channel
to the control center. Emergency telephones monitored by CCTV cameras, also to be located
on station platforms, will establish a voice channel to the control center as soon as they
are picked up.
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