According to a news report, KTM train tickets from KL to Penang, Kedah and Perlis for February 6 were sold out at KL Sentral on Saturday, within an hour after sales commenced. The tickets went on sale at 8.30 am on Saturday, and it wasn’t long before attendants announced that tickets to Butterworth and Padang Besar were no longer available, drawing the ire of some in the waiting crowd, The Star reports.
Angry words were heard at the KTMB ticket counter, and security personnel had to pacify a few visibly agitated customers. Apparently, some buyers had queued up as early as 6.30 am just to secure their tickets under KTMB’s system of selling tickets not more than 30 days in advance, including the travel date.
Under the system, tickets for February 7, 8 and 9 were only available on January 9, 10 and 11 respectively. It was also reported that north-bound tickets from JB Sentral to Ipoh, Butterworth and Hat Yai for February 6 were also sold out.
February 6 is the day before the eve of Chinese New Year, which falls on February 8 and 9, and most Chinese would want to be home then for the traditional reunion dinner on the eve. The publication added that some customers said there was difficulty in accessing KTM’s website to make online bookings or buy e-tickets, leading to them having to make their way to KL Sentral to attempt the ticket purchases directly.
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Same old Malaysia, same old Malaysia….Not surprise to hear this story again next year or in 2020…or even 3030 if KTMB is still government owned.
What are they supposed to do? Do magic & double the train’s capacity?
Same old Malaysian, same old Malaysian.. Not surprised to hear rants like this…
Tiket dah habis nak buat camne? nak duduk atas bumbung macam India ke?
kalau demand is good..then why not tambah je few more trips of trails during that period of time to cope with demand..just take it as national service to rakya and make extra income for KTM. so apa susah sangat ???
Safety. Too many trains on the track reduce brake distance if anything happens, and fatigue on train drivers. They are human too, you know.
John, the trains are not running back to back, there is something called GPS and communication with station. the rail is way long, safety due to braking is not a concern here
u thot now a day train still from 1950 ?? all modern train had been designed operator in fully or semi automation, no need human being like you to operate…
So? Even planes can takeoff, fly & land without a pilot but would you travel in a plane without one?
Yes john, Each coach will have its own braking mechanism and power unit to drive the train, and not dependent on Main Engine. Check “The GHAN” passenger train. Malaysia never learn despite sending diplomats here and there.
I think we have to be fair to KTMB too.
1) KTMB cant simply add more trains during this festive season. Maybe they have already rolled out all trains currently ready for service.
2) KTMB website wont be as efficient as Airasia. Considering the website visitors and festive season of few times in a year, it is not feasible to upgrade their server solely to cater to this, which come along higher maintenance cost.
3) Now, most ppl who taken ETS would have know that ETS ticket price is considered cheap, and they are quite punctual, and significantly safe vs car/bus. Thus, it is expected ticket would be sold out very fast. You got it or not really depend on luck.
I do suggest that ETS train ticket should sell in the way that air ticket are sold. Ticket are price according demand vs supply.
The same old part that I’m referring to is the difficulties of accessing website or waiting inline for a long time without getting any tickets. I do understand if tickets is sold out, you can’t get any. But can they resolve it by increasing service frequency? Or improve the always failed web service, knowing that a lot of people is buying now?
Is people like you with the mindset and attitude like you that Malaysia is still this backward and it’s not me who says that in year 2020, Malaysia is going to be a developed country, this is not what a developed country should have. But who can blame it, KTMB has no incentive to improve.
got uber and grabcar… just request a ride to balik kampung…. pay a little bit more for once a year affair, no sweat.
There may be a few uber drivers who balik kampung willing to pickup passengers with destinations along the route to their kampong
Other than that, it would be crazy for uber drivers to travel so far with no passenger on the return trip
If train not enuff, theres always express bas. Now its time these parasites can earn their money and not minta sedekah from Gov while their bosses roll in cash
Bus also ramai.
TBS station was packed and the the customer service was terrible and many counters are closed.
Jalan Duta many ulat !!!
fly~!
Now imagine the shipping companies chipped in and say…
“Okay, I will give you all a ride on my vessels for a minimal fee.” That would be good. Port Klang, Melaka, Singapore, Johor… that would be a good one.
No need so complicated. Just ask uber or grabcar to open up to normal drivers making the trip back. I’m going back from KL To Ipoh. Got 3 seats left. Can tumpang with a small fee. I’m sure there are thousands making that trip back. It’s called ride sharing. This is when it should really work.
Can always add extra coaches to the original configuration right?
in case of diesel loco, they can add up to certain lenght. but i believe almost all the northern trip uses ETS, u cannot simple add coach. Plus not enough ETS to turn around.
i think double decker train should be here and higher speed rail double decker should choosen for crowds people for go home for festival…. i hope myhsr get double decker train and more cable. so fit for many people …millions people would sit in more space like double decker train.. chinese company in china got double decker higher speed rail… i hope passenger comfortable and not worry about full ..
Sold within an hour? Are u kidding me? It was sold within 5 minutes!! I was 2nd in the queue, and during my turn it was 835am, and being told by counter staff all the seats were either sold and/(or) book/lock whatever you wanna call it, and yes im frustrated. Please dont complaint as in now you just contribute another vehicle in the cny jam
Oh btw ktmb, your website/app sxxk too! Way more than air axxa ticketing. Basically you just freeze freeze freeze and freeze on the same page. Online ticketing? What a joke
Dontworry…its UBER time!
Ni semua salah Najib?
KTMB do have acres of room for improvement.
1. Year in year out this kind of situation happen, year after year. KTM could have expect this kind of response and take preemptive actions while earning more at the same time.
2. It was unfair for KTB to extra charge rm2 just for online booking their ETS ticket on top of the already expensive KL-IPOH rm 35 a way. Instead of encouraging people to buy online and reduce congestion at counters and waste everyone’s time, they do the opposite.
3. KTM should really improve their counter service. Simple things like showing and updating trains shuttles which are already sold out to avoid people queuing for nothing. Not just in KL but KTM stations around the country. Of course, this would not have happen if they had invest in a user-friendly and efficient online ticketing system.
There could be more but i think these are the obvious ones.