Limited bus and rail services from Wednesday, not tomorrow

CORONAVIRUS | Prasarana will begin cutting back on its public transport services on Wednesday, not tomorrow as previously announced.

This is to give essential service workers ample notice to make changes to their travel plans, it said in a statement today.

It said all Rapid KL train services will operate according to the following schedule:

Monday to Friday:

• 6am – 7am : 30-minute frequency

• 7am – 9am : 10-minute frequency (peak hours)

• 9am – 10am : 30-minute frequency

• 5pm – 7pm : 10-minute frequency (peak hours)

• 7pm – 10pm : 30-minute frequency

Saturday, Sunday and public holidays:

• 6am – 10am : 30-minute frequency

• 5pm – 10pm : 30-minute frequency

The above schedule applies for LRT, MRT, and monorail services in and around Kuala Lumpur.

“There will be no service in between 10am and 5pm. The last train will end its service at 10pm, and all stations will be closed accordingly,” the statement said.

Likewise, all stage busses – namely Rapid KL, Rapid Penang, Rapid Kuantan and Rapid Kamunting – will only be operating from 6am to 10am, and from 5pm to 10pm.

This means there will be no service from 10am until 5pm.

Prasarana advised those commuting by bus to refer to https://myrapidbus.prasarana.com.my/kiosk for updates on bus locations, while Rapid Penang users may use the Rapid Penang Journey Planner app that is available for Android platforms.

The Penang ferry service will run from 6am to 10am, and from 5pm to 10pm as well. There will only be one ferry at each hour.

Earlier today, Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said public transport services will only be available from 6am to 10am, and 5pm to 10pm. This is due to a "dramatic" drop of ridership since the implementation of the movement control order on March 18.

However, during the announcement, he said the limited service would begin tomorrow.

Taxi and e-hailing services will continue as usual, he said.

In a separate statement, KTM said it is suspending some of its interstate and intercity train services effective Wednesday until the end of the MCO.

The affected services are the Ekspres Rakyat Timuran, Ekspres Selatan, and Shuttle Tebrau services, which will be completely halted for the time being.

“Only two ETS and two KTM Intercity services will operate each day, compared to eight previously,” KTM chief executive officer Kamarulzaman Zainal said in a statement.

KTM commuter trains will be reduced to 49 services per day for the Klang Valley and Northern sectors, he said, while Skypark Link train services from Kuala Lumpur Sentral Station and Subang airport will be reduced by half.

“Several train services still need to continue in view of special needs. This includes the transport of food and medicine as well as staff of various essential services involved while the order is in effect,” he said. - Mkini