KUALA LUMPUR: Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) will operate eight additional Electric Train Service (ETS) trips for Chinese New Year and Hari Raya Aidilfitri.
In a statement on Friday (Jan 30), KTMB announced that 26,460 additional ETS tickets have been on sale since Jan 24 for the Chinese New Year, covering KL Sentral-Ipoh; KL Sentral-Butterworth-KL Sentral; KL Sentral-Padang Besar-KL Sentral; JB Sentral-KL Sentral-JB Sentral, and JB Sentral-Butterworth-JB Sentral.
These services are scheduled from Feb 13 to 22, with key routes including Padang Besar-KL Sentral (11.05am); KL Sentral-Padang Besar (5pm); KL Sentral-JB Sentral (11pm); and JB Sentral-KL Sentral (5.30pm).
Furthermore, from Feb 14 to16 and Feb 20 to 22, services will operate on the KL Sentral-Ipoh (10.50am), Ipoh-KL Sentral (5.25pm); Butterworth-KL Sentral (6.10am), and KL Sentral-Butterworth (7.55pm) routes.
KTMB will also introduce its Electric Multiple Unit Plus (EMU+) service from Feb 13 to15 and 20 to 22 for the KL Sentral-Ipoh-KL Sentral route. This service, which offers a daily capacity of 1,200 passengers via four trips, is already sold out for the operational period.
For Hari Raya Aidilfitri, an additional 36,540 tickets will be offered starting noon on March 1. These will cover travel periods from March 13-29, 16-20, and 23-29, over the same routes and departure times as the Chinese New Year services.
The combined availability of ETS and EMU+ tickets now stands at 70,200, allowing for up to 56 daily service trips.
"This step has been taken to accommodate the increase in passenger demand, thereby providing more comfortable, safe and user-preferred travel options," the statement read.
Separately, KTMB also announced that the ETS service on the JB Sentral-Butterworth-JB Sentral route would be maintained starting Feb 4, with the frequency increased from two to four trips per day, raising total daily services from 40 to 44 trips.
"KTMB encourages commuters to plan their journeys early and purchase tickets in advance to enjoy more economical fares and avoid congestion or last-minute rush," they advised.
Further information may be obtained via the official website www.ktmb.com.my or the KTMB Call Centre at 03-9779 1200. – Bernama
