Updates #98
1. Article: Firm denies using taxi coupons to make ‘easy money’ (NST, 10 August 2011) – Mohd Nasir Mohd Rashid, Exec. Chairman of MESRA Indah Jaya Sdn. Bhd. which operates the taxi coupon system in Johor Baru, has denied allegations that it is making an “RM2 profit from the sale of coupons as alleged” but only “taking a 10 per cent commission to cover our maintenance and management costs.”
2. Article: Bandar Kinrara 3 residents want Station 5 moved (The Star, 9 August 2011)
3. Article: SPAD to boost Raya road safety (The Malay Mail, 10 August 2011) – SPAD’s first time participating in the annual Balik Kampung / Hari Raya safety campaign, from 14 August – 14 September including investigation & checking of public transport vehicles “round-the-clock”. Unfortunately, we also read this article: Article: Meddling riders a problem, drivers say (The Star, 11 August 2011) in which JPJ director-general Solah Mat Hassan appears to blame passengers for asking questions and pressuring drivers into driving faster.
Express bus passengers should ensure a safe journey by not pressuring their drivers unnecessarily, said Road Transport Department (JPJ) director-general Datuk Solah Mat Hassan.
He said passenger pressure was a big concern for many drivers who felt pressured to drive faster to reach their destination quickly.
“Some always ask ‘what time will we reach?’ Passengers must not give drivers this unnecessary pressure.
TRANSIT: What nonsense! As if passengers asking “are we there yet?” is the only factor behind our unsafe buses?
4. Articles: NST has two articles about the upcoming Balik Kampung rush:
- Tickets to most places still available (NST, 10 August 2011)
- BOOK EARLY (Streets-NST, 11 August 2011) – TRANSIT: The article mentions that there are still seats available on KTM & ETS trains and KTB buses
5. Articles: A report in Utusan Malaysia (11 August) about the Ministry of Transport’s public transport initiatives
6. Article: KTMB keen on Saudi high-speed rail project (Business Times, 9 August 2011) – Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd (KTMB) aims to work on the Haramain high-speed rail project (linking Makkah & Madinah) in Saudi Arabia to gain expertise so it could undertake a similar project here.
7. Letter(s): No end of problems with KTM Komuter (The Star, 8 August 2011) – Hari Kumar of Bangi complains about KTM Komuter service. S. Jancy Joseph of Shah Alam writes in support in this letter, Komuter weaknesses not addressed (The Star, 9 August 2011). Ulrich Hottes of Manjung, Perak, wrote a similar letter in the NST: Dangerous way to travel with no crowd control. There is also this letter, KTM Komuter service keeps getting worse (The Star, 10 August 2011) by Hafizah A. of Klang.
[TRANSIT: These letters and the frustration expressed within should make it clear to the government that KTMB still needs to take steps to improve crowd management and service, rather than just blaming their problems on the shortage of trains, maintenance issues. etc.]
8. Article(s): We have already learned that 4 new Komuter EMUs are expected to arrive in Malaysia by the end of September 2011, although we do not expect them to be in revenue service until December 2011. The articles below also explain that KTM Komuter had more than 60 trains but now operates 21 trains on a good day, and often less.
- New trains expected to cut waiting time at KTM Komuter lines (The Star, 7 August 2011)
- Govt aims to reduce queues at KTM Komuter lines with new trains (NST, 7 August 2011)
9. Article: Follow the route printed on the bus (The Star, 9 August 2011) – Four Rapid Penang buses featuring a special design of the heritage route for Penang Starwalk 2011 will be plying routes on both the mainland and island.
10. Article: E-bike named as most innovative product (The Malay Mail, 11 August 2011) – E-Bike, an electric motorcycle with a top speed of 80km per hour, has been named the most innovative product at the Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) Faculty of Mechanical Engineering’s Research Day recently.
11. Article: Blocked! (The Malay Mail, 11 August 2011) – Mark Ng of KL complains about RapidKL and Metrobuses parked at the side of Jalan Genting Klang, apparently causing congestion.
12. Article: Patriotic as ever – But where are the Jalur Gemilang, cabbies? (The Malay Mail, 11 August 2011) – This article remarks that very few taxi drivers have mounted the Jalur Gemilang on their taxis this year. Some taxi drivers claim they cannot afford to do so, while others blame politics.
13. Letter: Spare heritage row in KL Chinatown (The Star, 12 August 2011) – James Gonzales of KL argues that the heritage structures along Jalan Sultan should be preserved and the MRT diverted.
14. Article: Khidmat KTM mungkin terjejas (Berita Harian, 12 Ogos 2011) – The Railwaymen’s Union of Malaya (RUM) has confirmed their intent to work to rule, as announced at the recent protest.
15. Article: 65,800 ETS tickets available for Aidilfitri celebration (The Star, 13 August 2011) – eretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) is making available 65,800 tickets for its Electric Train Service (ETS) for those wishing to travel on the Ipoh-KL, Ipoh-Seremban, KL-Ipoh, and Seremban-Ipoh routes during the Aidilfitri celebration between Aug 25 and Sept 6.
Transit Malaysia 
3 replies on “Updates #98”
>>KTMB still needs to take steps to improve crowd management and service
Yeah I whole heartedly agree. Something should be done about the aesthetics and capacities of certain station.
Srsly, mid valley’s ticketing counter looks archaic if not colonial, could they not design it to be a large station perhaps upgrade it to an interchange station with erl and add additional platforms so that some trains can by pass the station or terminate at the station.
The station concourse is also so narrow. What do they expect passenger traffic to be when their 6 coach trains arrive. Also they should invest in better info boards that can denote what kind of kommuter arrives. i.e. 6 coaches, 2 door 3 coaches, 3 door 3 coaches or 2 single door 3 coaches.
@OPO
You make a good point about MidValley komuter station.
Unfortunately there isnt that much room around the station to allow the construction of bypass tracks. If that were to happen, they would need to install switches and move the Komuter trains to the outside, allowing intercity & ETS trains to move through.
That would require a complete redesign of the station … probably not something that KTMB is too interested in looking at.
On the note about the concourse, we think a second entrance out of the south end of the station would probably be a very useful improvement. It would help with access and reduce crowding at the north end of the station (and the mall, for that matter).
Regards, Moaz for TRANSIT
Im everyday come to work in subang jaya im stay in batu 3 jalan kelang lama.only 1 bus will passedby my place going subang only rapid U76
alwas got problem every month i used to buy the touch n go card that can use good for one month
but i feel its useless bcoz the bus always late come thats why i have no choice to take taxi no use my touch n go somemore during go back time more worsy bcoz they always want late come so they can take all the money and they dont give u a reciep the money that i pay they.belong to them thats why i make a complain. U76 the drivers no good just take the money and no issue the ticket especially ay night time they dont give u ticket inspector please watch out your drivers….