KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 ― Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) announced today that it will implement a new fare collection system that will enable commuters to use a single ticket to access all train services in the Klang Valley.
The Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) system will be operational by June next year and its integration with Light Rail Transit (LRT), Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and monorail systems will be ready by 2017.
“We admit our current system is obsolete, sometimes it only accepts old notes or old coins, but this will be replaced with the new AFC in June or July,” KTMB commuter services general manager Azshidah Shah Shahari said during a press conference announcing the service's price hike today.
KTMB announced today a 36 per cent increase in its fare, which is a 4 sen increase for each kilometre, but noted that the price hike does not cover the full price of a ticket.
With the new fares, passengers will only be paying 75 per cent of their ticket with KTMB having to source for additional funding to cover the remaining 25 per cent, be it through government subsidies or footing the bill themselves.
KTMB president Sarbini Tijan noted, however, that the price hike will only be for the Klang Valley region due to certain “geopolitical factors.”
“In other places we don't have the intention due to a few geopolitical factors and lifestyle factors,” he said.
Other public transit systems also undergoing upgrades include the LRT that, according to Prasarana’s website, will see an addition of 13 and 12 stations respectively for the Kelana Jaya line and the Ampang line respectively.
According to national news agency Bernama, the construction of MRT Line 1 started in August 2012 and it is expected to begin operations in July 2017, while Line 2 is still in the preliminary works and is expected to be operational in 2021.
