BUKIT MERTAJAM: Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd (KTMB) commuters, via the KTM Komuter Utara (Northern Commuter), will soon get to enjoy up to 33 per cent savings on their travel using the weekly and monthly passes, which are up for sale from today.
KTMB group chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Rani Hisham Samsudin said the introduction of the weekly and monthly passes was one of the initiatives to ease the burden of commuters.
He said the weekly and monthly passes were for the Butterworth-Padang Besar-Butterworth and Padang Rengas-Butterworth-Padang Rengas routes.
"This weekly and monthly passes will provide savings to commuters. Those who use these passes will enjoy savings of up to 33 per cent in travel costs compared to purchasing daily tickets.
"These people-friendly passes are a new initiative introduced by KTMB to provide more sustainable and economical travel facilities to northern commuters, in particular.
"This initiative also takes into account the increasing cost of living while encouraging commuters to use public transport," he told newsmen after the launch of the KTM Komuter Utara (Northern Commuter) weekly and monthly passes at the KTM Bukit Mertajam station here today.
The event was launched by KTMB chairman Datuk Musa Sheikh Fadzir.
Mohd Rani said the weekly and monthly passes involved 38 trips a day for those routes.
"As of October this year, a total of 1,333,602 users have registered with the KTMB Integrated Ticketing System (KITS). Now commuters no longer need to queue at the counter to get their daily tickets. With these passes, they can launch their daily journey quickly and safely," he added.
Meanwhile, Mohd Rani said KTMB would add extra 10 trips to the existing 32 trips for the 15th general election (GE15) from Nov 18 to Nov 20.
"Now, we have a total of 32 trips from KL Sentral-Padang Besar. We will add another 10 more, bringing the total number of trips to 42. However, no fare discount is offered.
"We will also provide a special Malaysian Family train service to the East Coast which is KL Sentral-Tumpat, during the same period. This is an initiative to provide convenience to those who will return to their respective states to fulfill their responsibilities as voters in GE15," he said.