Why have these silver boxes been sitting in KTM stations for YEARS?

Those of you who naik KTM (Keretapi Tanah Melayu) will notice many stations have had this bunch of big weird silver wrapped up thingies or wooden boxes. And they’ve been there for like three or four years now. (We know cos we take the KTM!) 

We didn’t hop off at every station to check if they all have new machines (so free meh?), but from time to time, we can see them at various stations. They look like they’re just abandoned, collecting dust and all.

So… what are they actually??!!

They are actually KTM’s fancy new ticketing TOKEN machines

New one on the left, old one on the right…

According to KTM Berhad, they’re supposed to function like LRT machines, so those of you who use LRT before will know what it’s like. The new token vending machine is touchscreen, whereas old one was buttons and it was so hard to find the name of the destination station even though it went in alphabetical order.

The new auto gates can use Touch n’ Go on all lanes, while the old ones had an external TnG detector thingy attached on one or two separate lanes.

Also, the old auto gates used the old skool paper ticket with the little black magnetic strip at the back. You had to slot the ticket into the machine for it to read, and it will spit it back out. Whereas the new gates use token but no need to insert into the machine. It’s EXACTLY like Touch n’ Go – that means you hold the token over the detector and wait for it to beep… then the gates will open.

Looks awesome, right? So… what’s up with the delay? There have been people complaining about it too!

“KTMB owes the public an explanation and I strongly feel they will have problems upgrading the system as these are sensitive electronic machines.” – Kamarul Arrifin, 60, commuter from Klang, quoted in The Star

“The machines have become an eyesore at the various stations including KL Sentral from where a lot of tourists commute by train.” – Jackie, quoted in The Star

CILISOS contacted KTM to find out what happened…

KTM didn’t reveal what caused the delay, but they’re losing a lot of money from it…

We spoke to Puan Mastita from the Corporate Communications Department, unfortunately she told us KTMB was not ready to release an official update on the situation yet – and they won’t be ready any time soon, not this month nor the next. So we’re publishing this as ‘no comment’ on their side. When The Star contacted them in 2014, they too met with a dead-end because the source wouldn’t reveal the reason for the delay.

Aside from one concern that the abandoned machines make the train stations look like maksiat dens, there’s the concern that machines will rosak from lack of maintenance, or naughty kids might vandalise them.

Worse than that, it’s costing KTMB a lot of losses! Uh-oh exactly how much? That was one of our questions but they kenot comment. (They also won’t tell us how much the machines themselves costs. More on this later…)

How they lose money is when some commuters cheat and ride for free by just walking past the wrapped up, unmanned auto gates. It’s especially easy at smaller stations, like Teluk Pulai, Bukit Badak, Seri Setia and Kg. Dato Harun – some of these stations don’t have proper fencing to stop people from entering without a ticket (yes, we’ve seen it with our own eyes). It’s super unfair to all the other honest commuters who pay.

Aaand now especially that they’ve replaced the old magnetic stripe ticket with a receipt, it’s easy to cheat the officer who collects the used receipts at the arrival stations. They can recycle an old receipt:

“Some just wave their tickets, saying, ‘Mahu simpan, buat tuntutan (retaining for travel claims)’.” – Liong Kam Chong, quoted in The Star

But the BIG picture is KTMB is losing more than RM200 million a year (!!!), according to former Railwaymen’s Union of Malaya (RUM) President Abdul Razak Md Hassan, although he didn’t specify WHY in the report.

Okla actually the freeloading problem is only a drop in the ocean, coz their main income is not Komuter service. It’s cargo. Yep, KTM not only angkat humans, they angkat cargo as well. So that part of their business has been doing badly, as reported by Business Times.

In fact, we came across some reports that KTMB might be in financial trouble. Plus in Budget 2016, the poor fler’s subsidies were cut by more than half, from RM52.9 million to RM25 million! Yikes, is KTM gonna become like MAS? We sure hope not.  🙁

Could dat be partly why the new token machines were abandoned? Of course we cannot simply guess la. Since KTMB won’t say, people can only make their own conclusions.

KTM told us they finally plan to launch the new machines THIS YEAR!

So Puan Mastita was telling us that the team handling the new token system is currently busy getting it ready to launch. They couldn’t state a specific month, but they said it should be THIS YEAR. It’s also important to note that initially when The Star contacted them, they were told the new system was expected to be launched by the end of 2015.

As you know, after installing the machines they still need to test it properly before launching it publicly. Only AFTER that would KTMB be ready to give CILISOS a special interview, Puan Mastita told us. Hopefully they can meet the deadline this time, fingers crossed.

The new machines are NOT CHEAP k! The Star reported that they are apparently “worth millions of ringgit” although they didn’t reveal their source. That’s another one of the questions we asked KTMB, however Puan Mastita told CILISOS that one also cannot reveal yet.

Since it’s supposed to be same like LRT’s machines we check with myrapid.com.my – it costs RM115.2 million. But bear in mind LRT’s cost could be different because LRT has 69 stations, while KTM has 51 (this might not be an updated number). Plus LRT launched their system in 2011, so maybe now inflation price different.

WALAOEH mahal giler. What’s so great about these machines anyway? homghomghomg CILISOS build up so much suspense around the machines, now we’re finally getting to that part!! *drum rolllll*

This new system is gonna be so awesome. It will stop “cheating” passengers, hurhur

By that we don’t mean passengers who are cheating on their partners.

The passengers who try to cheat KTM by getting free rides cannot do that any more once they implement the system.

“The gates will not open up unless the tokens contain the cost of the trip, preventing commuters from shortchanging the operators.” – A KTMB source told The Star

However one way they could improve security also is if they can put up proper fencing at the smaller, quieter stations, otherwise no point also having the new machines if people still can sneak on and off the platforms. It’s a safety feature to protect people too, coz there have been incidents where people masuk illegally and kena hit by train. One case was a woman who snuck in through a hole in the fence near the Batu Tiga station, and another was a man who got hit from behind after he trespassed onto the tracks.

Phew that’s kinda dark, erm let’s switch the mood *beep*

We’re sure a lot of commuters will look forward to this new system. It’s so easy and convenient. No need to queue up at the counter to buy ticket, can just buy from the machines. And more importantly it’s fair to all the commuters that everyone who uses KTM’s service pays for it. Hopefully KTMB can really meet their deadline this year.

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