December 01, 2008 22:37 PM

Increase In Komuter Units To Decrease Peak Hour Crowds By March 2009

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 1 (Bernama) -- By March 2009, commuters using the the KTM Komuter service need not push and shove and wait for more than 15 minutes, assured Transport Minister Datuk Ong Tee Keat on Monday.

He said the number of trains providing the service will be increased to 36 from the present 29 operating now.

"The 36 trains will meet commuter needs. The waiting time of between 20 and 30 minutes will also be reduced to 15 minutes," he told reporters after a working visit to the Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) depot in Sentul here.

Ong said this could be achieved as work to repair locomotives and electric multiple units (EMUs) was proceeding smoothly.

He said that on a working visit to the depot on May 8, he found only five locomotives operating while 20 were not.

"Beginning this September, after Abd Radzak (Abd Malek) took over as KTMB managing director, on my directions, he set up a task force to tackle the problem and at the same time the original supplier was brought in to handle the repair work," he said.

As a result, Ong said, 18 locomotives were repaired and were operating and two more would be operating before the end of December.

Besides the locomotives, the EMUs expected to be used on the double-tracking lines also faced delays in repair work progress.

"Of the 20 EMUs being handled by the contractors, 12 have been overhauled and fully repaired and by January the number of trains providing service will reach 31 as opposed to 29 now," he said.

Ong invited the media to see for themselves the situation at the KTMB depot.

"This I need to share with you, as I promised earlier, in the name of transparency, we will make a special arrangement for the media to come in to have a look, to have first hand information, to clear any doubts you might have," he said.

On the cost of repairs, he said there was none as all the locomotives abd EMUs were under warranty.

He was also asked how he managed to overcome the repairs problem which was neglected before this.

"I would say, if there's a will, there's a way, as the saying goes. And in no uncertain terms, I made it clear to my ministry's officials as well as KTMB that we needed to listen to the public's woes.

"Although we have our own set of problems, we managed to get the problems resolved by troubleshooting and through much effort," he added.

-- BERNAMA

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