MRT and LRT services will be more disabled friendly from next year onwards, said Prasarana vice-president Lim Jin Aun.

Prasarana pledged to do so after sourcing feedback from activist Anthony Thanasayan, who recently visited several MRT stations after it was launched to conduct an accessibility test with the help of several wheelchair users.

Lim said plans are underway to resolve some of the issues raised, such as the abuse of specially marked parking bays and lacking audio queues for those with poor eyesight.

He said a meeting was held with Anthony on Tuesday and they have committed to continue their dialogue on making improvements to MRT and LRT facilities.

“What we have now is not something that is permanent. There is always room for improvement.

“It was good feedback that we got (from them), and these are the real users, in a way,” said Lim.

However, he said that although Prasarana was committed to resolving some issues in the short term, other issues take a much longer time to resolve, especially issues which involved resources.

New facilities

But for now, issues with the accessible parking bays were among issues that could be resolved swiftly.

“You don’t need to spend a lot of money. You put a chain there and a number there... You can call that number and people will come and remove the chain,” said Lim.

Lim said this when met at the launch of the new four-coach LRT trains at the Ara Damansara station today.

On the lack of accessibility ramps at the entrance of the Ara Damansara station, Lim said ramps were located nearer the accessible parking bays.

“We would assume that they would drive or somebody would drop them off. So all these facilities are near the OKU (orang kurang upaya, disabled) area, so at the main area we might not be able to see it because those cater to the general public,” he said.

He said the new four-coach trains will feature specific compartments for wheelchair users, proper hand grips and safety belts.