KTM blues

It's time to really start blogging, at first I thought about blogging on our trip to MidValley (yet again) as it was the last outing with our very own 'Uncle' Alex, but something happened at the end of the day to make me change my plans.......

It involves the bane of many KLites, dont know what I am talking bout? Well then I guess u must be one of the lucky one that do not have to ride one of the most unreliable train systems in the world.... THE KTM KOMUTER....

When KTM started it's commuter train service it touted itself as being a clean, efficient and reliable way to bring in people from Kuala Lumpur's suburbs into the city itself, but over time this system which once proudly boasted that it runs with 'German Punctuality' (the Germans must be really embarrassed by this) has ran into dissaray, most probably due to our typical Malaysian Mentality....we build the biggest and the best.....but eventually it will detiorate due to our notoriously bad mantainance system....from our public toilets to the commuter train, from the humble dustbins to our world class sports complex it all has fallen into disuse by this build and leave mentality, but I'll save that for another post, as for now it is time to flame KTMB.

If you are one of the unfortunates that have to put up with the KTM you'll most probably agree with me that the train almost never comes on time, it is as if the ETA on those blue flashy boards are for display purposes only, wow we Malaysians certainly have a knack for expensive ornaments (large metallic flowers anyone?) On usual days the train would be delayed by a few minutes to half an hour....This is normal and must be factored in if we want to have an accurate estimate of our travelling time, for example if classes or work starts at 8 and the train ride would take u 20 mins to get there, u must be at the station at around 6.30am if u want to be on time (remember factor in the half an hour delay sometimes more). This delays are at a tolerable level as it has been taken in as a normal way of live, but remember...it wasnt always like this I'll elaborate on that later.

and then there are the monster delays, delays streching for hours on end, these delays would cause the crowds at KL sentral station and many other stations on the network to swell to epic purportions, the crowds at this station could probably be compared to the crowd at a North Korean workers day parade.. hmmmm maybe not, but still the conditions at the station will get so bad that it is hardly bearable for a country that wants to acheive developed nation status in the year 2020, the poor ventilation, high density of people and the iritated commuters are some of the most pressing of all problems at those instances... when u have so many combustible elements together it will certainly not bode well...There were many instances where tempers would start to flare up.

Then there is the frequency of the train, usually when one rides the LRT or the Monorail missing a train does not matter as the next train is merely 5 minutes away (at most) sometimes it is only a minute apart, but for the KTM missing one train would mean having to sit at a station where we are exposed to all the elements in all their fury for 20 minutes at least, but usually (as mentioned earlier) it will take around 30 mins, this is certainly a major put off for the consumers...... the frequency of the trains used to be 1 every 15 minutes but due to the Malaysian Boleh attitude the once sufficient fleet of 62 trains has dwindled to just 28....this certainly puts extra strain on the already overworked train......which by virtue of being overworked becomes unsafe and hence dangerous to us, the consumers....

and then some smart aleck decided to run before they can even run properly, even before the complaints above can be rectified they decided to add extra stations to the already long route, it is really crazy because they cannot even properly run the Rawang-Seremban and Klang-Sentul route and yet they wanna add stations all the way the Kuala Kubu Bahru, really brilliant stuff here..... in a later post I will elaborate on why this is a problem..

As a conclusion to this rather long piece on the KTM, I would like to request those that decided to ask the public to change their lifestyle and take public transport to first come experience the problem faced by the rakyat firsthand instead of sitting in their chaffeur driven beemers and Merc and tell the rest of the population (who voted them in btw) to ride this rickety old service!!!

IMPROVE THE KTM!!!!