TRANSPORT Minister Anthony Loke has announced that Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd (KTMB) will provide free rides to Klang Valley KTM commuters on January 24 and 25 in conjunction with the Thaipusam festival, which falls on January 25.

During this period, commuters are required to scan (check in and check out) at the automated control gates at the stations.

“Some 250,000 passengers are expected to use the service during this period, peaking on January 25,” he told a press conference at the Batu Caves KTM Station today.

Loke said additional KTM Komuter services will be operational around the clock for four days, from January 23 to 26. During this period, 28 stations will operate 24 hours a day, an increase from 26 stations in the previous year.

A total of 33 trains will be allocated for the Batu Caves-Pulau Sebang-Batu Caves route, with an additional 39 trains serving the Batu Caves-Port Klang-Batu Caves route.

“The additional commuter services will begin at 9.55pm from Pulau Sebang to Batu Caves on January 23, with a one-hour train frequency.

“The extra commuter services from the Port Klang station to Batu Caves will begin at 11.39pm, also with a one-hour frequency.

“There are no additional train services from Tanjung Malim to Batu Caves and vice versa. However, users from this route can take the commuter trains from Tanjung Malim station to Putra, Bank Negara, Kuala Lumpur, and KL Sentral stations and transfer to KTM Komuter trains to Batu Caves,” he said.

In addition, Loke stated that KTMB would be providing four extra Electric Train Services (ETS) with an additional 3,150 tickets from January 24 to 28.

This includes two services a day for the Butterworth-KL Sentral and KL Sentral-Butterworth routes on January 24 and 25, as well as two services a day for the Padang Besar-KL Sentral and KL Sentral-Padang Besar routes on January 26 to 28. Ticket sales for these additional ETS trains will open on Monday, January 15, at noon.

In a separate development, Loke mentioned that Free RapidKL bus services would also be available in Kuala Lumpur and Penang on January 24 and January 25.

For Kuala Lumpur, the free bus services are from the Pasar Seni LRT station to Batu Caves; from the Gombak LRT station to Batu Caves: and from the Kampung Batu MRT station to Batu Caves, and one route in Penang (jetty-Adventist).

“There are three bus services in Kuala Lumpur and five in Penang that will pass through areas where Thaipusam celebrations will take place. Information for these routes can be obtained by visiting the myrapid.com.my website,” he said.

According to Loke, for the free round-trip shuttle bus service to Batu Caves, Rapid Bus would collaborate with the Gombak police headquarters to ensure the smooth movement of buses. – Bernama, January 13, 2024.