KL Monorail trains stall, commuters cross from carriage to carriage while about 10m in the air

Malaysian commuters were made to hop from train to train on the morning of Nov. 20 when a monorail train failed in Kuala Lumpur.

On the morning of Nov. 20, a train near the Medan Tuanku station stalled due to a power failure, stranding 373 passengers almost 10 metres above the road, Bernama reported.

KL’s Fire and Rescue Department were alerted to the incident at around 9.39 am, and reached the site of the incident within 3 minutes.

In the event of train disruptions in Singapore, commuters are usually evacuated through a door at either end of the train that opens onto the track.

After that, commuters walk along the track to the nearest station.

However, the KL Monorail track is merely 80cm wide, with no barriers, so there’s only one way for rescue.

Train-to-train evacuation

Videos on social media show another monorail train on a parallel track inching forward so that the train’s doors (roughly) align.

Getting stuck then saved on the kl monorail this morning was not part of my 2025 bingo card but here we are.

Thank u abang monorail for saving us 🙏 pic.twitter.com/Txw54aOQno

— shiori ⚙☄🐹🍑 (@shiorices) November 20, 2025

A member of staff, possibly the driver, was seen manually unlocking and opening the train doors, while passengers helped tug on the doors.

After managing to open the doors, the train on the opposite side, which was about a half metre lower than the stranded train, brought out a metal gangplank to connect the two trains.

The staff members secured the gangplank between both trains, raised handrails that were quite a bit shorter than the gangplank, and escorted passengers between the trains.

Got this part where they had the makeshift bridge and it’s interesting how they coordinate between two sides and attach it 👏 pic.twitter.com/6rkBO58bn0

— shiori ⚙☄🐹🍑 (@shiorices) November 20, 2025

Video from social media showed passengers crossing between the trains while traffic continued unabated below.

Pictures of the tracks post by the Fire and Rescue Department showed that there is netting below the trains and between the tracks, meaning that if someone had fallen out, they would not have fallen onto the road.

Continued their journey

But thankfully, all passengers were eventually safely evacuated, although The New Straits Times reports that one passenger fainted during the evacuation.

The passenger regained consciousness after treatment, but the other passengers were brought to the Medan Tuanku station to continue their journeys.

Train services were stopped at that stretch of track for nearly two hours, but resumed normal service by 11:33 am.

Top image via @shorices/X & Jabatan Bomba dan Penyelamat Malaysia/Facebook