KTM Update: KTMB replies to Jeremy Vinesh’s complaint

The letter by Jeremy Vinesh describing a service disruption on KTM Komuter services grabbed the attention of many people.  TRANSIT immediately asked Jeremy to provide more information, which he did, and we followed up with KTM over the month of December.

TRANSIT received this letter from KTM about the results of their investigation on January 5 but were not able to find the time to post it until today.

We thank KTMB Corporate communications for forwarding their report on the investigation of Jeremy’s concerns to TRANSIT, and we hope that they maintain their committment to improve their services and communicate with the public.

Oh, and perhaps KTM Communications can get themselves a twitter feed for marketing and updates as well.

1.       On 26 November 2009, the KTM Komuter’s train services to all sectors were badly disrupted when a commuter train failed at KM 386.110 between Bank Negara and Kuala Lumpur station at 6.50 pm due to a pantograph broke and dropped (loose). Bi directional train operation was commenced at 7.04pm in between the affected areas. The incident had caused delayed up to 105 minutes which affected [a] few train services at some sectors.
2.       We would like to verify that the big jolt, loud sound with flying sparks and the ‘burnt’ smell was caused by the broken pantograph and was not caused by any train from the opposite direction.
3.       The cause of the train leaning to one side was due to the area where the track is located at up gradient and along the curve track.
4.       The phone line was cut off due to system disruption.  For your information, the phone number is link to the Auxiliary Police Department which operates 24 hours.
5.       Please be assured that our front liners have been trained to assist passengers at all time.  We are aware that there is always room for improvement and we will always strive to provide a better service for all our passengers from time to time. However, the consumers too can play their part by having the exact fare thus reducing the transaction period. As an option, we would like to suggest that you consider using our Weekly or Monthly Ticket or the Touch n Go card, as it gives you the freedom to ride the KTM Komuter without the hassle of purchasing ticket every day.
6.       With regards to ticket counter operation hours, we are in the progress to revise the working shift and adding more personnel in order to have the counter open until our last service. For a start, priority will be given to the major stations’ with high ridership.  The new operating hours is expected to be extended in stages beginning next year.

TRANSIT Says:

The complaint by Jeremy, the investigation process and the public report from KTM – really reflects what TRANSIT is here to do. We are here to support YOU, the public transport user, in the never-ending effort to improve public transport.

It does not matter whether the issues are related to regulation, planning, organization, funding, operations, information, communications or public relations – if it related to public transport and it involves you, we want to be there and do our best to help.

TRANSIT is a lot of things – and we can do a lot to help improve public transport – with the cooperation and support of the operators, the government and the public.

We hope that the report on the incident described by Jeremy Vinesh is a satisfactory one, and we urge all public transport users to give feedback to the operators, the government, the wakil rakyat and to TRANSIT as well.

Idris Jala, the head of the Performance Management & Delivery Unit (PEMANDU) which is responsible for the Government Transformation Programme and National Key Result Areas, has said that feedback is a gift.

We could not agree more!