Tuesday, February 14, 2012

KTMB Batu Gajah station: a possible question in Parliament?

More than 2 years ago, I had petitioned to KTMB for a scheduled stop at the old station on Jalan Pusing, because the new station is 2 km away from the main road (Jalan Tualang).

Since the new station was opened for use, train travellers had no choice but to accept it grudgingly. I believe it is possible, if only KTMB is willing, to have a scheduled stop at the old station. The old station needs minimum renovation for this purpose. In fact, for the convenience, if put to vote, I am sure the people are willing to accept the present condition! I have used a train stop in Differdange, Luxembourg, which has a concrete bench without even shelter! KTMB should admit its mistake and bear the responsibility of having chosen the inconvenient location, to be near the Railway complex instead of serving the public's convenience. Is it too much to ask to provide an alternative stop, if the people are all for it?

Our local MP, YB Fong Po Kuan has taken notice of a reminder of my earlier petition in Facebook and will be including it as one of her questions in Parliament. But to my disappointment, she has assumed KTMB will never ever consider another scheduled stop, and thus will be asking for feeder bus service instead. Honestly, I do not agree with her opinion because to me, it seems defeatist. KTMB has robbed the residents of Batu Gajah the convenience of its old railway station for a number of years already. Why can't they consider a scheduled stop instead of the hassle of providing feeder bus service? I had experienced the inconvenience of being in the train upon arrival in BG while waiting for another train to be shunted. By providing for another scheduled stop, the train driver just need to stop again a few kilometres away, wasting probably a few minutes for a good cause. In fact, train staff can find out from passengers if anyone wishes to stop at the old station. Service should be the priority of KTMB and this is what the resident train travellers wish for. They shall be eternally grateful if only KTMB consider this point.

In the recent incident near Tg. Malim where someone used a bomb hoax which delayed a train service to KL, KTMB was reported to have lost Rm500,000. Just imagine the vulnerability of train service to such pranks and electricity outage (another incident which affected ETS). We have yet to come across any travellers claiming for compensation as a result of the delay due to the bomb hoax. As a comparison, Virgin Trains recently compensated a Malaysian traveller GBP875 for her inconvenience when travelling in UK. The former example is to illustrate how a company can lose money for something beyond its control, while the latter is to illustrate how a similar train company valued its customer service. Isn't it time for KTMB to think along this line?

at

No comments:

Post a Comment