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iSpeak: KTM’s Perennial Problems

By A. Jeyaraj

There was a recent complaint from one of our readers about the problems faced by passengers using the subway at Ipoh Railway Station. It is poorly lit and only four of the 10 fluorescent lamps fitted along the wall are working. The overhead lights are never on. The floor is always wet with stagnant water. The CCTV camera is missing and there is no security personnel on duty. When I visited the place I noticed that, except for stagnant water, the other problems were there.

I enquired with Amer, the station manager. He was busy but took time to speak to me. I showed him the photos taken on my phone. He asked me to forward them to him. He tried to contact the person responsible for maintenance but was not able to reach him. He had no time to listen to the other problems. I forwarded the photos to him.

There is a notice on the wall of the subway stating the door would be closed from 7pm to 7am. The first train from Ipoh to KL is at 5am and the last train arrives after 11pm. The door should be opened based on those timings.

There are passengers who use the back entrance regularly to avoid traffic jams in front of the station. I have also seen workers using the subway. KTM should encourage passengers to use the rear entrance to reduce traffic congestion at the front entrance.

Ipoh Echo’s editorial in Issue 309 (Aug 1-15) was about delays of ETS trains. Very often staff at the station are unable to provide any information on what’s going on.

Complaining to the station manager is a waste of time as action is hardly taken. These problems are not new. I had raised the matter with the previous station manager over a year ago. He listened and told me about his other problems.

KTM should set up a dedicated department for customer relations. There should be a mechanism to monitor these complaints and complainants should be informed once the problems are resolved.

ETS is the preferred mode of public transport. People expect a high standard of customer service from KTM.

Update

I met the Station Manager on August 2 and revisited the place on August 10. No action has been taken. Two men were sitting on the steps and smoking. Since I went with two friends, I was brave to go down and have a look. Passengers have to use the subway at their own risk.

 

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