Klang Valley MRT Opens, a Project Ends

Page 3 of the Sin Chew

17 July 2017 was opening day, and it was supposed to be a doddle. We had finished a month ahead of schedule; but then they ordered 4 more escalators at the last minute.

The fastest way to get around was to use the MRT itself. On opening day I finished up at Station 5 and was expecting to take the train to Station 26 but there was a snag: the trains did not run all the way from Stations 5 to 34. The new segment only went from 16 (Museum Negara) to 34 (Kajang).

Station 5

So at opening time 16:00 hours I was at  Museum Negara and went through as fast as I could. A reporter took a picture as I went through and the next day, it made page 3 of the local Chinese paper, the Sin Chew Jit Poh. 

Post Project Blues

Project C1313K started in 2013 and required remote control of over 200 escalators over 34 stations spanning an area of over 50km. The feature did not exist so it would have to be designed, built and tested on the fly. 

Senior R&D Engineer Edward Boo at ease

For the last 2 years we ate, slept and dreamed C1313K. There were setbacks, attrition, additional requirements, variation orders, but these are teething pains. You focus: eyes on the prize...

The team in 2015

You get used to being occupied by a design for years. Then it is over. OK, it succeeded, it works and is delivered on time and we get to fight another day. There is the high, the celebration, the adrenaline rush.  

Northern Zone passed Field Tests Oct 2016

Southern Zone passed field tests May 2017

So where do you go from there? It is strange not to think about C1313K when you get up or just before you go to sleep. Welcome to the Post Project Blues.

 

Reprieve

 And then you get days like these, 18 July 2017 when you make page 3 of a national paper. Did I say life was good?

Moving On

Time for MRT2 (KVMRT SSP Line) then. Goodbye, C1313K.

But with the word the time will bring on summer,
When briers shall have leaves as well as thorns,
And be as sweet as sharp. We must away;
Our wagon is prepared, and time revives us:
All's well that ends well; still the fine's the crown;
Whate'er the course, the end is the renown.

- William Shakespeare