Tickets for northbound ETS, ELA trains to east coast for Aidilfitri are sold out, says Loke

KUALA LUMPUR: All tickets for the electric train service (ETS) heading north and Ekspres Lambaian Aidilfitri (ELA) special train to the East Coast, in conjunction with the Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration, have been sold.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke said this involved the sale of 119,880 ETS tickets for April 4 to 15 and 952 ELA tickets by Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB).

He said that following the high demand for the ETS service, the KTMB has provided six additional trains for the same period, involving two services for the KL Sentral-Padang Besar-KL Sentral, KL Sentral-Butterworth-KL Sentral and KL Sentral-Ipoh-KL Sentral routes.

“As of today, 86% or 12,853 tickets out of 15,120 tickets have been sold since March 22 for the additional ETS train services, including the ETS express train.

“There will be 32 ETS services daily for all northbound routes, ending at Padang Besar, while the ELA special trains, which will stop at 17 stations, will end in Tumpat,” he told a media conference after distributing Hari Raya packets to KTMB passengers at KL Sentral here on Friday (April 5).

Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Hasbi Habibollah, KTMB chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Rani Hisham Samsudin, and Land Public Transport Agency (APAD) director-general Datuk Azlan Shah Al Bakri were also present.

Loke, meanwhile, said the frequency of the KL Sentral-Tanjung Malim-KL Sentral commuter train service during peak hours would be every 15 minutes from April 20, compared to the current 60 minutes.

He said this would involve seven trips during the morning peak hours (7am–9am) from Tanjung Malim to KL Sentral and six during the evening peak hours (5pm–7pm) from KL Sentral to Tanjung Malim.

“The Klang Valley Double Tracking Phase One (KVDT1), which includes the completion of track and infra works in the Rawang-KL Sentral sector, was completed last Sunday (March 31) and so it allows for a track route frequency of 15 minutes during peak hours.

“For now, the frequency of every 15 minutes is only for the peak hours, and we expect that by June or July, the frequency can be maintained throughout the day. I hope this will increase passenger capacity and more people will benefit from this route,” he said. – BK