Updates #70
1. Letter: Put public transport back on track (The Star) – J. D. Lovrenciar of KL calls for improvements to public transport to reduce commute times & stress & improve quality of life.
2. Letter: Make cycling a way of life (The Star) – Dr. A. Soorian of Seremban calls for improvements to cycling infrastructure to encourage this healthy activity.
3. Letter: Danger of driving when one’s tired (The Star) – Lau Bing of Subang Jaya comments on the dangers of tired driving, especially in long-distance & intercity buses.
4. Article: Hill railway to run again by end March (The Star) – update on the Penang Hill Railway upgrade project, which was supposed to be completed September 28. The project is run by the Tourism Ministry.
[TRANSIT: Click here to see pictures of the new coaches, which arrived at the end of August. At least they bought the coaches in advance, not like KTM’s ETS trains.]
5. Article: 138 track intrusions at RapidKL Kelana Jaya LRT line last year (The Star) – self explanatory – but we wonder how passengers can be so careless.
6. Articles discussing the Ministry of Transport’s attempts to be more proactive with respect to buses:
- More buses will ensure reliable schedules, says Kong (The Star)
- Ministry to push ahead to improve bus services in Klang valley (The Star)
7. Letter: KTM is still mired in the past century (Malaysiakini.com) – Richard Teo of Seremban describes his unhappy experience on his first KTM rail trip in nearly 40 years.
Transit Malaysia 
4 replies on “Updates #70”
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Stadium Kajang does not seem the most suitable site for a MRT station.Firstly the area -though adjacent to old Kajang town centre – is already congested partly due to the many schools, etc being located nearby. Kajang residents would remember the massive jams experienced before the completion of the Kajang Bypass some 4 years ago & building a MRT station there would certainly return them to that situation! Incidentally, business vibrancy in parts of the commercial area currently have already been affected by the traffic congestion & also limited parking available. Second, majority of residents of Kajang (as well as those of rapidly growing neighbouring towns such as Bangi, Semenyih, Broga & Beranang) commuting to Greater KL for work either use the Kajang Bypass (connected to Kajang-Cheras Highway & Lekas Highway) or North-South Expressway so as to avoid passing through Kajang old town; thus, siting the MRT station at Kajang Stadium would also not achieve maximum ridership.Furthermore, people in the old town centre would be losing the only recreational space left. In addition, the stadium land, if converted, would also not be big enough to provide for a sizable park & ride facility let alone allow for commercialization of surrounding areas to help repay the bonds. Having done my own little survey of alternative suitable sites taking into consideration acquisition of land & more importantly to meet the objectives of maximum ridership & commercialization of areas surrounding the MRT station, a more suitable MRT station site might be somewhere along the Kajang Bypass where townships such as Saujana Impian ,Genaris, Kajang Perdana as well as Prima Saujana commercial centre (known as “Kajang New Town”) are located. The only shortcoming of this suggestion is no interconnectivity with existing KTM station. However, the existing KTM station in Kajang is too congested with the 2-lane access road not expandable & the proposed new KTM station sited near proposed new development known as “Kajang 2” also suffering to a significant extent from similar accessibility/congestion problems for majority residents of Kajang & neighbouring towns as well as limited opportunity for commercialization of surrounding areas by SPAD.
Stadium Kajang does not seem the most suitable site for a MRT station. Firstly the area-though adjacent to the old Kajang town centre- is already congested partly due to several schools, etc being located nearby. Kajang residents will remember the massive traffic jams experienced before the completion of the Kajang Bypass some 4 years ago & building a MRT station there would certainly return them to that situation! Incidentally, business vibrancy in parts of the town centre have already been affected by heavy traffic congestion & limited parking available. Second, majority of residents of Kajang (as well as those in rapidly growing neighbouring towns such as Bangi, Semenyih, Broga & Beranang) commuting to Greater KL for work either use the Kajang Bypass (connected to Kajang-Cheras Highway & Lekas Highway) or North-South Expressway so as to avoid passing through Kajang old town; thus, siting the MRT station at Kajang Stadium would also not achieve maximum ridership. Furthermore, people in the old town centre would be losing their only recreational space left. In addition, the stadium land, if converted, would also not be big enough to provide for a sizeable park & ride facility, let alone allow for commercialization of surrounding areas to help repay the bonds. Having done my own little survey of alternative suitable sites taking into consideration acquisition of land & more importantly meeting objectives of maximum ridership & commercialization of areas surrounding the MRT station, more suitable sites for the MRT station might be 1) somewhere along the Kajang Bypass where established residential estates such as Saujana Impian, Jenaris & Kajang Perdana as well as Prima Saujana commercial centre (dubbed as “Kajang New Town”) are located, & 2) on plantation land along Jalan Semenyih opposite Billion Supermarket in Bandar Teknologi, Kajang/Semenyih with good accessibility for most residents of Kajang & neighbouring towns. The main shortcoming of this suggestion is no inter-connectivity with the KTM stations. However, the existing KTM station in Kajang is too congested with the 2-lane access road not expandable & the proposed new KTM station to be sited near the proposed new development known as “Kajang 2” also suffers to a significant extent from accessibility/congestion problems for most Kajang residents as well as limited opportunity for commercialization of surrounding areas by SPAD.
@MK Chan
Thanks for the feedback. You are correct that having a station in an urban, central area is probably not the best place for a terminal station – which usually would be located in the suburban areas with lots of Park & Ride facilities.
At the same time, the value of a station at the centre of the urban area (promoting redevelopment and urbanization of the area) should also be considered
All of these factors must be balanced against the needs of customers and potential users of both KTM and MRT.
Regards, Moaz for TRANSIT