KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 100,304 tickets have been sold across Electric Train Services (ETS) and EMUPlus networks for the coming Deepavali celebration, Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd (KTMB) revealed.
Its chief executive officer Datuk Azlan Shah Al Bakri said tickets for the EMUPlus were 65% sold while ETS service tickets were mostly snapped up.
“KTMB produced almost 70% more seats compared with last Deepavali with more trains and greater frequency. The sales reflect an encouraging demand,” he told reporters after jointly handing out 600 Deepavali goodie bags to train passengers with Deputy National Unity Minister R. Yuneswaran at KL Sentral yesterday.
With seats still available for the ETS, Azlan Shah said KTMB will publish these destinations publicly.
Previously, KTMB said an additional 11,888 seats were offered on its train services for the Deepavali celebration on Nov 8.
Among others, KTMB said it would operate two additional ETS trips daily on the Padang Besar-KL Sentral-Padang Besar route from Nov 5 to 9, as well as four additional daily trips on the JB Sentral-KL Sentral-JB Sentral route from Nov 6 to 9.
On another matter, he said plans to install monitoring systems, including CCTVs, across KTMB networks was in the final stages, with the railway working closely with Railway Assets Corp on it.
“Installation has begun. We want to monitor, deter and detect. Our auxiliary police officers are also working hard on the ground to ensure commuters have a safe and comfortable journey,” he said in response to a recent incident when a window on the Padang Besar-Butterworth KTM Komuter Utara Service was shattered by an unidentified object thrown from outside.
The train was travelling between Arau and Kodiang.
On KTMB’s plans for 2027, he said one million seats were already made available for the travel period between January and February.
“These are just scheduled trips. By adopting our current measures, we can put in more trips. This creates better capacity, frequency and availability for customers,” he said.
Previously, KTMB said it would restructure service schedules for several long-distance routes beginning Jan 1, namely those that connect destinations in the northern and southern networks of the ETS system.
It said trips between JB Sentral and Butterworth and Padang Besar as well as trips from Butterworth to Segamat will no longer be offered through a single train service.
It said passengers on these routes will have to transit at KL Sentral before continuing their journey to their respective destinations.
KTMB added that it will be improving the booking system to enable ticket purchases for these trips with just a single transaction.
