KUALA LUMPUR, April 5 — All tickets for the electric train service (ETS) heading north and the Ekspres Lambaian Aidilfitri (ELA) special train to the East Coast, in conjunction with the Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations have been sold out.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke said this involved the sale of 119,880 ETS tickets for the travel period from April 4 to April 15 and 952 ELA tickets by Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB).
Following the high demand for the ETS service, KTMB has provided six additional trains for the same period, each involving two services for the KL Sentral-Padang Besar-KL Sentral; KL Sentral-Butterworth-KL Sentral, and KL Sentral-Ipoh-KL Sentral routes.
“As of today, 86 per cent, or 12,853 tickets out of 15,120 tickets, have been sold since March 22 for the additional ETS train services, including the ETS express train.
“There will be 32 ETS services daily for all northbound routes, ending at Padang Besar, while the ELA special trains, which will stop at 17 stations, will end in Tumpat,” he said.
Loke was speaking during a press conference after distributing Hari Raya packets to KTMB passengers at KL Sentral today.
Also present were Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Hasbi Habibollah, KTMB chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Rani Hisham Samsudin, and Land Public Transport Agency (APAD) director-general Datuk Azlan Shah Al Bakri.
Loke added the the frequency of the KL Sentral-Tanjung Malim-KL Sentral commuter train service during peak hours will be every 15 minutes from April 20, compared to the current 60 minutes.
This will involve seven trips during the morning peak hours (7am-9am) from Tanjung Malim to KL Sentral and six trips during the evening peak hours (5pm-7pm) from KL Sentral to Tanjung Malim.
“The Klang Valley Double Tracking Phase One (KVDT1), which includes the completion of track and infra works in the Rawang-KL Sentral sector, was completed last Sunday (March 31) and so it allows for a track route frequency of 15 minutes during peak hours.
“For now, the frequency of every 15 minutes is only for the peak hours, and we expect that by June or July, the frequency can be maintained throughout the day. I hope this will increase passenger capacity and more people will benefit from this route,” he said.
— Bernama
