My draft Petition/Open letter to KTMB

Petition title: Appeal to KTMB for a scheduled stop at the old Batu Gajah train station

To: Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd

Respectfully, we ask KTMB to consider having a scheduled stop at the old Batu Gajah station which had served its travellers well for so many years, but its replacement, the new multi-million ringgit modern station has instead inconvenienced them. We would like to ask KTMB to listen to the pained voices of so many people who need to travel by train but inconvenienced by the new location.

The new KTM Batu Gajah train station appears to be the pride of the town, but in actual fact, it has created untold miseries to those who need to use the train services.

If you have not already heard the complaints, we wish to highlight the main ones as follows:

1.Its location is actually not within walking distance from the main road, Jalan Tualang, compared with walking distance at the old station in Jalan Pusing.

The need for own transport or taxi service has meant special arrangement and additional costs of petrol, or taxi fares of Rm8 just to get to the main road, or Rm15 to get to Jalan Changkat, and that is, only if there were taxis available. Just imagine anyone, especially a lone girl or woman arriving at night. The residents have so far seem resigned to the given situation and we do not think this is fair to them, having to accept a problem created by having a new station at great public expense.

The need to take a taxi would in effect undo the relatively cheap train fare of Rm10 Economy and Rm17 Superior for the BG-KL trip.

2. Lack of consideration for senior citizens and disabled persons.

Has any of the management staff tried walking up the high pedestrian crossing? Only those travelling south would find it convenient using the platform of the new station. Coming from the south, a disabled person using a wheelchair would face the formidable task of having to go a fair distance before he or she could be picked up by someone using a car. This problem could be solved if only there is a scheduled stop at the old train station.

I sincerely hope KTM can be a good corporate citizen by listening to the people, having ignored their pleas before the planning and construction of the new station.

Sincerely, The Undersigned


Flashback to an earlier letter by a local resident:

We Need Only a Halt, Not Station
Posted on: Monday, 17 October 2005, 00:00 CDT
By THAVA

I REFER to "White elephant in the making" (NST, Oct 12), and agree with the writer.

Also, what is important for the people of Batu Gajah is not a beautiful railway station far inside the kampung but only a halt at the old railway station close to buses and taxis and with a vending machine to buy tickets.

There is an overhead bridge not far from the old railway station which people can use to get to the other side if the authorities do not want to build a bridge at the railway station itself.

The old railway station is still standing, and what is needed is another shed on the other side with some facilities, which will not cost much.

THAVA
Batu Gajah

Note: I am new to this exercise which is like a citizen's initiative, and would welcome suggestions like additional points and as to how best to go about it. The final draft should be translated into Bahasa Malaysia and Mandarin and Tamil to get a better response.

It would be much better if handled by our local elected representatives like ADUN for Tronoh, YB V. Sivakumar or MP for Batu Gajah, YB Fong Po Kuan.
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