Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM)-Part 1. Bad Rail or Bad Management?

“Rail Bad!” was today’s headline in the New Straits Times (NST) after the Prime Minister (PM)’s little experience with the commuter service.

He arrived at the Serdang Komuter KTM s at 8:15 a.m. but unable to get on board the first train because it was packed. The next train was 15 minutes later. He was right to express dissatisfaction over KTM performance which was obviously not up to expectation. The PM went on and pledged “I will strive for improvements. I will propose changes”. I am very certain he will be furious had he tried the Komuter service during rainy season where train service can be delayed up to an hour during peak hour.

There are indeed many changes and room for improvements in the KTM. The first change the PM should adopt is to replace Lim Ah Lek, as the chairman of KTM with someone who has no rail-road experience. He may be a successful politician, who was also a former cabinet minister, but he has proven ineffective based on KTM performances and results during his leadership. Lim Ah Lek must be answerable for the poor performances and losses of KTM.

The PM should not forget that KTM has at least 2 major safety incidents during the past four months with at least two fatalities. Why was the safety inspector not suspended? Why was no-one accountable for it? This portrays serious lack of accountability in KTM top-down, from the chairman of the board down to the operators.

As for KTM Komuter, they should provide train service at least every 10 minutes instead of 15 minutes during peak hours and should strive for every 5 minutes by 2010. If our country is fond of comparing fuel prices with countries such as Singapore, Japan, Korea and etc., we should be bold enough to measure up the train services of those countries. In Singapore, train runs at least 4 minutes during peak hours while in Moscow, Russia, train arrives every minute and sometimes every 50 seconds during peak period.

Will the PM going to walk the talk this time or just another lip service?