KUALA LUMPUR: An unlimited travel pass for persons with disabilities (OKU) and school students to enjoy free rides on Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTMB) trains has been launched.
The MyRailLife pass is an initiative by rail operator KTMB and the Transport Ministry which offers free train rides for all OKU registered with the Welfare Department as well as school students from Standard 1 to Form 6 of ages seven up to 19.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke said MyRailLife, which began to be implemented on Wednesday (Feb 15), provides high cost savings for the disabled community and school-going children.
Loke illustrated an example that a disabled person living in Alor Setar and working in Butterworth would now save RM180 per month by using the MyRailLife pass.
"If he uses the train service for round trips between the Alor Setar station to Butterworth, he has to spend a travel fare of RM7.20 per day, where he needs to allocate RM180 per month for transportation costs.
"With this MyRailLife Pass, his savings on transportation costs is as much as RM180 per month. This pass is also unlimited," he said during the launch at KL Sentral on Thursday (Feb 16).
MyRailLine is an extension of the initiative first announced by Loke on Jan 20, where he said pupils in school uniforms and the OKU will be able to enjoy free KTMB train rides from Feb 15.
MyRailLife is a free and unlimited pass that can be used for KTM Komuter services in the Klang Valley, northern and east coast sectors.
The KTM Komuter Klang Valley sector is for round trips between Pulau Sebang to Batu Caves as well as Port Klang to Tanjung Malim.
Meanwhile, for the northern sector, the pass would be good for round trips between Padang Rengas to Butterworth as well as Butterworth to Padang Besar.
The KTM Shuttle Timuran for the east coast sectors is for round trips between Gemas and Tumpat.
Loke added that the pass is expected to not only benefit school students and the disabled community, but also ease the financial burden of parents paying for transportation costs for their children.
"The Transport Ministry is very committed to the government's agenda to control the cost of living.
"I also understand that for some communities, KTMB services are not just a mode of transport alone but are an important means for children to seek knowledge.
"For example, in Kelantan, more than 100 students in Kuala Geris depend on the KTM Shuttle Timuran service to go to school in Dabong," he added.
Loke said eligible users can register online via the KITS KTMB mobile app, the KTMB website or at KTMB counters nearby.
KTMB is also providing 10,000 free Komuter Link cards free for new users and MyRail5 card holders, which were previously for disabled users and students in Klang Valley.
Loke added that the MyRailLine initiative is worth RM4mil and is being funded by cost savings from the suspension of the Subang Skypark KTM Komuter service between KL Sentral and Subang Skypark, which was suspended starting Wednesday (Feb 15) due to low ridership.
Loke added that due to the suspension, there are now four extra sets of three-carriage Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) trains that were previously used for the Skypark Link operations.
He then said that one set will now be used for KTM Komuter services in the Klang Valley while the remaining three sets will be used for the northern sector KTM Komuter operations for the Padang Besar to Butterworth and Padang Rengas to Butterworth lines.
Therefore, starting Saturday (Feb 18), there will be an increase in frequency of the Padang Besar to Butterworth line services from every 60 minutes to every 20 minutes during morning peak hours.
There will also be an increase from every 60 minutes to every 30 minutes in the evening peak hours.
For the Butterworth to Padang Besar line, the train frequency has been improved to every 30 minutes during the morning and evening rush hours.
Meanwhile, for round trips between Padang Rengas to Butterworth, the frequency of trains will be improved from every 180 minutes to 120 minutes.
KTMB said the initiative is set to increase the number of daily round trips between Padang Besar and Butterworth to 36 from 26 and 16 from 12 previously between Padang Rengas and Butterworth.
The improvements are expected to fulfill the demands of the rising number of commuters plying the northern sector routes for daily back and forth trips between Perlis, Kedah, Penang and Perak for work or leisure activities.
