KUALA LUMPUR, May 23 — Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd (KTMB) has 347,000 seats available for the upcoming long holiday, marking the largest capacity increase in the company’s history.
The move aims to accommodate an extraordinary surge in demand following the overlap of three public holidays within a two-week period, namely, Aidiladha, Wesak Day, and His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia’s official birthday.
KTMB Group chief executive officer Datuk Azlan Shah Al Bakri said the capacity provided for the festive season surpassed the company’s previous records.
“This time, we are facing an extended holiday and are providing the highest number of tickets ever for Aidiladha, even exceeding ticket sales for the recent Aidilfitri.
“We are providing 347,000 seats compared with 150,000 the previous festive season, meaning the current capacity has increased by more than twofold,” he told Bernama when met at KL Sentral here today.
Azlan Shah said that of the tickets covering more than 900 train trips, nearly 80 per cent or 270,000 tickets have been sold, and between 60,000 and 70,000 tickets are still available.
He said tickets for the Ekspres Rakyat Timuran service have sold out, while the southern sector (Kuala Lumpur-Johor Bahru) recorded 88 per cent sales and the northern sector (Kuala Lumpur-Padang Besar) reached 82 per cent.
To ease travel costs for those returning to their hometowns, KTMB also introduced the Madani30 programme, allowing passengers to enjoy a 30 per cent discount subject to certain terms and conditions.
“For the Ekspres Lambaian Aidiladha (ELA) service, we are also offering a 30 per cent discount under the superior seat category to help ease the burden on the people and help them travel to their destinations,” said Azlan Shah.
On operational readiness, he assured that all technical aspects have been fully activated, including the availability of train sets, tracks, signalling systems and business continuity plans, to ensure passenger comfort and safety.
He also stressed that issues involving fake tickets would not arise due to the use of ticketless boarding systems via smartphone apps and the Open Payment System implemented by KTMB.
