Wee must explain stark decline in train ridership

 

When a multi-billion ringgit project to upgrade the Klang Valley’s rail systems and infrastructure ends up causing the general public to shun rail operations altogether, someone needs to hold his hands up and admit responsibility. Yet, that is not the Malaysian experience, it seems.

The Klang Valley Double Tracking (KVDT) project commenced in 2015, consisting of two phases, conveniently referred to as KVDT1 and KVDT2.

Work on KVDT1, intended to connect Rawang with both Batu Caves and Salak South, began on Nov 2, 2015, and was expected to be completed on July 8 last year, but it has been delayed.

Worse, the KVDT2 project is at a complete standstill.

Meant to rehabilitate rail lines from Port Klang to KL Sentral and from Salak South to Seremban, the KVDT2 project was initially awarded to a Dhaya Maju LTAT joint venture in April 2018, but was cancelled barely one month later after the PH government took office.

The contract price was then re-negotiated and work resumed on Sept 3, 2019, albeit with an unusually long seven-year completion timeline.

More woe was to follow after the PH government fell in early 2020. Incoming transport minister Wee Ka Siong once again cancelled the contract in August last year, claiming the contract was still over-priced, and announced that his ministry would call for an open tender.

“This is important in view of the urgency to complete the project to serve an estimated 80,000 daily commuters,” Wee had said at the time.

Almost one year later, the promised open tender has yet to be called, the project is still stalled, and the government is locked in a legal battle with the contractor on multiple fronts.

Meanwhile, Wee’s estimated 80,000 daily commuters may have abandoned hope in the railway altogether. Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad data suggests a stark decline of 76.2% in ridership between 2015 and 2020.

The reasons are obvious. During those years, KTMB has had to suffer numerous operational difficulties, which generated unwanted bad publicity.

Although the railway lines in the Klang Valley region are double-tracked, the electrification work, which requires shutting down one track for replacement, has effectively left KTMB operating a single-track service for the better part of the past seven years.

Needless to say, a single-track rail service is difficult to operate, slow and dangerous, which in turn has required KTMB to reduce its capacity, train frequency and train speed.

Undeniably, this has resulted in a lack of trust in the rail services caused by service unreliability, longer waiting times and unacceptable delays in overall journey times.

Unable to rely on rail services, commuters have returned to the road, congesting our highways and streets, with more private and Grab cars, taxis and motorcycles, and stretching a floundering public bus system well beyond its ability.

With billions of ringgit of public funds wasted and government objectives not achieved, someone must be called to account.

In this regard, the ministry of transport must provide answers, and Wee, as its minister, must bear the brunt if it fails, even if he is not personally responsible for all or any part of the scandal.

At the end of the day, if the minister cannot correct the slide, then he must resign. That is ministerial accountability in the Westminster model of government – if that is still what we subscribe to. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.