Malaysia is seeking help from foreign experts to investigate a series of incidents on its urban railway system, Transport Minister Chan Kong Choy said.

In mid-August about 5,000 commuters were stranded for an hour at a Kuala Lumpur station after flood waters entered a train.

Earlier this month a stretch of the busiest part of the rail track was closed for 10 hours when a train stalled on the line.

And last week a train overshot the end of the tracks and was left dangling 25 metres above the ground.

"I am taking these incidents very seriously. Within three months there are three incidents. We can't wait for another more serious incident to happen before taking action," Chan told the state Bernama news agency.

Foreign consultant

"I agree with the proposal by the railway department to appoint a foreign consultant to have a joint audit team with us on all incidents," he said.

Chan said consultants from Germany and other European countries had been shortlisted for the job.

The government in August announced a RM10 billion plan to build a new light rail transit line and expand the present networks by the year 2010.

The new line will cover some 30km and cut across Kuala Lumpur. It aims to boost the usage of public transport in the densely populated Klang Valley, where only 11 percent of passengers travel by public transport.