No bus service in Seremban

Seremban residents are desperate to have the iconic 'Red' buses back. Over the past 2 days, bus services in Ngeri Sembilan, especially Seremban have been grounded.

Article: KTB: We cannot subsidise Negri services any more
News update Bus operators cease services along many routes in Seremban to cut losses

Going nowhere: Bus drivers and employees of the consortium sitting at their depot in Oakland near Seremban 2 after services to several areas were terminated yesterday. Image courtesy of The Star.

More buses than usual lying idle at the depot now that services have been greatly reduced in Negri Sembilan.

KTM Komuter woes

KTM Komuter came into limelight again for 'no' apparent reason again. Its services has been heavily criticised and not to be mention as 'lousy' public transport provider.

A The Star reader sent a letter (Wake-up call for KTM Komuter) to voice out her grouses and dissatisfaction.

And below is the reply from representative of KTM Berhad.

KTM addressing the woes (The Star)

Thursday November 17, 2011

WE refer to “Wake-up call for KTM Komuter” (The Star, Nov 15). We are aware of the problems that the writer and other commuters face.

In order to rectify the problems, we introduced, in October, KTM Komuter Twitter, which provides information on the rescheduling of the train timetable and cancellations.

The writer and others may follow us on @ktmkomuter for service updates.

We also make frequent announcements at all stations on train arrivals, cancellations as well as on safety messages.

We do notice the crowds at stations and make announcements for commuters boarding to allow passengers to disembark first before getting onto the train to avoid chaos on the platform.

One of our main initiatives to ease passenger flow during peak hours is to provide nine additional six-car Komuter trains on weekdays for the Seremban–Sungai Buloh–Seremban section (considered to have the highest capacity) that could double the passenger capacity.

Another initiative is that KTM Bhd has ordered 38 new six-car sets (SCS). Two sets have arrived and are undergoing testing with a view to being put into operation in early 2012.

With the additional 38 new SCS, we aim to improve our train intervals from 30 minutes to 10 minutes. These 38 new SCS come with features such as better air-conditioning system, ergonomic seats, two coaches for ladies, CCTV for security, space for the disabled, dynamic route display, Passenger Information System (PIS), priority seats for the elderly and others in need, and passenger intercom.

In the meantime, please bear with us as we are going through a difficult period of having to delicately juggle our services between major maintenance and meeting customer demand.

Both are equally important to us, and we are trying our level best to keep up and meet the deadlines and expectations.

We apologise for the inconveniences and thank the writer for her valuable feedback.

MOHD FAZIL ISMAIL,
Corporate Communications,
KTM Bhd.

FAQ: RapidKL Transit card

KVMRT has received answers for several questions that commuters would like to know. The following answers were from RapidKL in a Twitter session.

Question 1
Is there any plan for RapidKL to integrate three cards (namely: Rabbit Card, MyRapid Card and Rapid Pass) into a single card?

RapidKL: Yes. The plan to use MyRapid Card in buses and KTM Komuter, but it is still in discussion stage and would be announced soon.

For Monorail, MyRapid Card can be used as early as February 2012. Commuters are advised to be patient. Thank you.

Question 2
Why there is no discount in fares by using Rabbit Card and MyRapid Card?

RapidKL: There is still no official announcement for discount XX%. Wait for the announcement! Expected when all the systems run smoothly.

This is the two questions that KVMRT managed to ask and received feedback from RapidKL in Twitter session. We hope it can clarify on some issues regarding the card system deployed by RapidKL.

Follow RapidKL at @MyRapidKL for latest updates, enquiries or feedback.

MyRapid Card

Token for single journey

RapidKL introduces myrapid Card

Rangkaian Pengangkutan Integrasi Deras Sdn Bhd (RapidKL), a subsidiary of Syarikat Prasarana Negara Berhad (Prasarana) will be introducing MyRapid card for all LRT commuters, beginning on 2 November 2011.

With the tagline “One is all you need”, the MyRapid card is a new stored value card to provide convenient travel and hassle-free LRT rides. With the MyRapid card, commuters will be able to use only one card at both the Ampang and Kelana Jaya LRT lines without the need to have two separate cards for the interchange between the two service lines.

MyRapid card will be available for sale at all RapidKL LRT stations Ticket Offices from 2 November 2011. LRT users can buy the card at a special introductory price with a discount of 80% on card price of RM10 (RM2 for card price with RM8 card value) while stocks last. Meanwhile, the existing Magnetic Stored Value Ticket (SVT) holders can exchange their cards to the new MyRapid card at the ticket offices, free of charge.

RapidKL also would like to announce that the New Ticketing System for RapidKL LRT is expected to commence operation, in parallel with the existing ticketing system, beginning 02 November 2011. Therefore, we urge LRT users to buy the new MyRapid card to ease their journey.

The RapidKL New Ticketing System which is technically referred to as the Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) is the new RM115.2 million system which provides convenience to commuters, with a single ticket for both LRT systems and also ease of travelling between lines at the interchange stations.

Installed by a joint venture Malaysian-Spanish company INDRA-IRIS AFC Consortium (IIAC), the new system comprises new sets of automatic gates, ticketing vending machines, passenger service machines, mobile validators, station computer system, central computer system, initialization machines and personalization machines.

The AFC System is being installed at all 49 LRT stations (25 stations for Ampang Line and 24 stations for Kelana Jaya Line) and expected to be fully operational by end of November 2011. As for Monorail services, the system is targeted to be completed by first quarter of 2012.

How to use:

Cards:

Fares:

Integrated fares for Ampang and Kelana Jaya Line