THE main reasons for KTM Bhd’s (KTMB) service delays are insufficient trains and irregular train arrivals, Railwaymen Union of Malaysia president Razak Md Hassan said.

The union boss said KTMB has only 25 trains in service at present, a number far too small to cater to the growing number of commuters.

He added that to overcome current delays and interruptions, Putrajaya has to acquire more trains.

Razak said commuters have had to wait up to 40 minutes for a train. He said the frequency should be every 10 minutes.

“To ensure the frequency of trains meet the requirements of the commuters, the trains must be running in intervals of 10 minutes. 

“KTMB has 38 trains but only 25 are in operation as the rest need to be fixed or overhauled,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Razak also said all train sets available to KTMB are in need of an overhaul as they have exceeded the set mileage.

He compared it with the MRT 2 line, which is 50km long and is supplied with 48 sets of trains, while KTMB has only 25 sets and a longer track.

He said the estimated price of one set of six cars is about US$13.2 million (RM58.7 million), and 30 sets of trains with six cars is about US$396 million. 

Razak said commuters began experiencing schedule changes in stages when the Klang Valley Double Tracking (KVDT1) project kicked off. 

“The train schedule was disrupted when the project under KVDT was not fully completed.

“Now that the project is complete, there is the KVDT2 project. This we believe will take about five to seven years to complete.” 

With the KVDT1 project complete and KVDT2 about to begin, Razak is asking the government as to what its plan is to provide trains when the projects are fully done.

He said if the government purchases more trains, intervals between trains can be reduced to 10 minutes.

“The procurement of the trains will take time. The government also has to see if it has the budget for it. 

“How long will it take for the Transport Ministry to open a tender (to purchase trains)? We are looking at at least three or four years before we get the trains.

“We hope the minister (Wee Ka Siong) can address this issue promptly.” 

He said his union is conducting a study on what is needed to solve the issue, and that it will send a memorandum to Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob in August. 

“It (memorandum) is to urge the government to look into providing (more) trains to address the issue and for the ease of commuters. 

“Everyone knows about the plight of the commuters, even the government.” 

He added that before the KVDT project started in 2016, KTMB was seeing 120,000 passengers per day.

“During the pandemic, we got 12,000. Now we are getting about 28,000 commuters daily.” – July 17, 2022.