KTM Malaysia Trains

Malaysia has a train system like most countries. However, unfortunately, unlike some advanced countries I’ve been to, our train system here is terrible especially the KTM Malaysia train system.

I have had to take this train several times and each time I have been sorely disappointed at the terrible timing and condition of the train. The train never arrives on time and when it does finally come, the crowd of people waiting for it would have swelled to such a huge amount that people will be literally fighting just to board it. Unlike most train companies that will increase train frequency during rush hour, KTM trains are in fact DELAYED during rush hour which just makes things worse for the commuters.

However, the incident that took the icing on the cake happened last week when I had to catch the train to Midvalley. As usual, I squeezed myself into the train. It was so crowded there was barely enough space to stand and everyone was literally shoulder to shoulder. The train rolled to the Midvalley stop and the doors wouldn’t open! It seemed to be just the door of our carriage and no amount of pulling or pressing on the emergency door button helped. The carriage was so far away from the driver and closed up so there was no way of notifying the driver.

To our horror, the driver obviously had no clue as he merrily continued his journey to the next station where the same problem persisted. When we reached the third station, a few of us couldn’t take it anymore and squeezed our way to the neighbouring carriage to exit through their doors onto a platform which was way past our intended destination.

We had to wait again for the connecting train from the opposite direction to finally arrive at Midvalley, at least an hour later.

It was ridiculous and terribly dangerous that the driver had no clue of how his doors were functioning. It was even more embarrasing that a few of the “victims” included foreign tourists who thought of taking the KTM to save time on our horribly jammed roads. So much for Visit Malaysia Year!