FIRST SEMESTER OF 2016/2017

BPMG 3063
INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT

BY
LOK PIK YIN
226849

PREPARED FOR
DR. SUHAILA BINTI ABDUL HANAN
 Report on Train Ride from Aloe Setar to Butterworth

On 11th September 2016, I boarded on the train from Alor Setar KTM station and aligned at

Butterworth station. Then, I took a bus ride back to Alor Setar from Penang Central bus

terminal. Butterworth is the 7th station from Alor Setar. The train passed by Kobah, Gurun,

Sungai Petani, Tasek Gelugor, Bukit Mertajam and Bukit Tengah before reaching

Butterworth. The whole journey from Alor Setar to Butterworth via train service took 1 hours

and 12 minutes.

The Alor Setar KTM station is situated at the city centre of Alor Setar. However, it is situated

behind the main road which unable the public to locate it easily. The terminal is of side

platform type. The terminal is equipped with special track for the disabled community. It is

accessible by person who is using a wheelchair. The terminal also has an air-conditioned

waiting room for the passengers, toilets, lift, ticket-counter, parking lot and prayer room. The

terminal shows direction of taxi station and bus stop as well. There are two platforms in Alor

Setar KTM station where Platform 1 is for those who go to the Padang Besar direction and

Platform 2 is for those who bound for Butterworth direction. ETS ticket is also available at

the ticket counter.

Only passengers with tickets are allowed to wait at the platform. Therefore, the KTM station

manager only opens the white-coloured gate when the train is about to arrive. Then, the

passengers who need to wait at Platform 2 had to cross a link to reach Platform 2. Yellow

lines are drawn on the platform to prohibit any passengers to stay inside the yellow line near

to the rail track to prevent accidents. The signs regarding passengers safety were clearly

displayed.

The Butterworth KTM station is the terminal station of the Padang Besar-Butterworth route.

It is an intermodal station where the passengers can easily find taxi stations, Penang Central
bus station and ferry service around Butterworth KTM station. There are 4 platforms in the

Butterworth KTM station. One of the platforms is for train bound for KL Central station.

Different from the train station, the Penang Central bus station hosts many bus companies

under one roof where the passengers can purchase tickets from different bus company

according to departure time, destinations and price of the tickets. There are more than 24

platforms which allow the bus from different bus companies to park. All destinations and

name of the bus companies are clearly mark at the platform. Passengers are advised to wait at

the platform 15 minutes before the bus depart. There is only one driver and the driver will

check the tickets as well. There is no seating number in the bus although it is stated in the

ticket. Passengers sat freely according to their preferences. The bus station lack of facilities

that is suitable for the disabled community. The bus is air-conditioned with capacity of 41

people.

There will be one train for every one hour to Butterworth. The punctuality of the train is very

high because the train arrived exactly as the scheduled time. The train stopped at 6 stations

before reaching Butterworth. For each station, the train will stop for 30 seconds for

passengers to align. The operator will announce the name of the station when the train is

about to reach that station. However, the route identification announcement is not clear

enough most of the time as the sound of the moving train is too loud due to wheel friction. It

can be a problem for the people with hearing disability. The one way ticket price for the ETS

is RM22 but it is sold out due to public holidays. The commuter only cost RM 7.10 per single

journey and has higher frequency than ETS.

However, the proof of payment which is the KTM tickets can be very easy to be forged as

there is lack of authentication features on it. There is no machine to check the validity of the

tickets. There is only a station manager and white gate to restrict the access of passengers.
The bus ticket costs RM 10.90 for one way from Penang Central to Shahab Perdana bus

station, Alor Setar. The bus is of gold class which means they provide more comfortable seats

than usual bus. The ticket provided by the bus company contained much more information

than the ticket issued by KTMB.

I entered Car 1 of EMU 32 with number of C8327.

The train unit is electric multiple unit (EMU). It is KTMB 83 class EMU numbered 32. It is a

3-cars formation train manufactured by Hyundai Precision in 1996. The KTM class 83

consists of two motor cabs at either end of the set and a single trailer car in between, the

trailer car in between is equipped with a double-arm Z shaped pantograph for electric pick up.

There are 3 coaches and the middle coach act as the power car.

The transformer and pantograph which is used to collect current from the 25kV alternative

current, 50Hz catenary is located above of the middle coach making it the power car. Power

car of an Electric Multiple Units is often the lead vehicle of the train or the vehicle that

supply electrical power to the other parts of the train. Pantograph is the apparatus installed

above the train to collect electricity from the catenary through continuous contact with the

catenary. Meanwhile, catenary is the cable which carries current. It is supposed to form a U

shape similar to a parabola but in order for the pantograph to obtain stable and continuous

electricity supply, the catenary will be supported to ensure that it is parallel to the train at all

time.

The rail track is metre gauge which is 1000mm between two steel rails. The rail track is made

of ballast, wooden-ties sleeper and steel-made rail.

It travelled at a speed of 120 km/h.

The train travelled in a constant speed. The passengers can walk around the train or standing

without falling. There are priority seats for pregnant women, elderly and women carrying

children in each coach. The doors are electronic sliding doors which open automatically for

30 seconds whenever the train align at each stop. Beep beep beep sound can be heard to

warn the passengers when the sliding doors are about to close. The passengers were also

warned not to lean against the sliding door.

According to the train schedule, the commuter is supposed to reach Butterworth by 8.16p.m.

However, the commuter only arrived at the terminal station at 8.20p.m.which was 4 minutes

late. Despite of that, the punctuality of the train was still high.

There are 14 trains per day travelling from Padang Besar to Butterworth at every one hour.

The first train depart from Padang Besar at 5.25a.m. On the other hand, the last train depart

from Padang Besar at 10.25p.m.and will reach Butterworth at 12.16a.m.on the next day.

There is one interchange station at Bukit Mertajam for those who want to go to Padang

Regas-Bukit Mertajam line.

The bus travelled in different speed along the way from Butterworth to Alor Setar due to

traffic lights, tolls and road condition. The bus ride took almost 1 hour and 25 minutes which

was faster than the predicted time by Google Map. Google Map predicted 2 hours from

Penang Central to Shahab Perdana bus terminal.

The light inside the bus is very dim. The bus engine created a noisy sound which prohibited

the passenger from listening to music. The seats in the KTM were very basic. They were

made of plastics and covered with velvet. The passengers cannot adjust the seats. The

coaches were installed with many steel poles to support the standing passengers. The seat was

very comfortable similar to a sofa at home. The passenger can adjust the angle of the seat to

have a better sitting position. The bus stopped at one station before aligning at the Shahab
Perdana bus station. Compared to the KTM ticket, the bus fare is more expensive. Since the

bus was operated by only a bus driver and he was driving very fast sometimes, the passenger

felt unsecure and had doubt about their safety on the bus. It became worse when the bus was

travelling at night. The ticket vendor of the bus told the passenger that the duration of the

whole journey is 1.5 hours without telling them the exact time to reach the destination. The

bus ride was much more unpredictable than the train ride as the road condition varied.

Overall, the seat was very comfortable but the safety of the bus was questionable.

The bus can accommodate up to 41 people only. Meanwhile the train can accommodate 61

seats per coach and the coaches were spacious for other passengers to stand. In other words,

the train had a larger capacity than bus.

The train has a regular schedule. There will be one train for every hour in peak hours. During

non- peak hours, the train arrives every 3 hours. The train service follows a schedule which

states the departure and arrival time very clearly.

The bus service does not have such high frequency. It is impossible to buy a bus ticket

without booking during peak season. The passenger must buy the bus tickets beforehand to

avoid tickets sold out.

Train service is more environmental friendly than bus service as the Electric Multiple Units

produce less sound pollution and air pollution to the environment since they need only

electricity but not locomotive to generate the power. Bus which is very old has exhausted

engine which cannot burn the fuel very well causing air pollution to the environment.

It is better to take a train as the bus service operator will not tell you the exact time to reach

the destinations due to unpredictable conditions on the road.

For a 2 hour journey from Penang Central to Shahab Perdana Terminal, the bus service can

provide up to 4 trips during weekdays and up to 8 trips during weekends, public holidays or

public holidays eve depending on the demand. Different bus companies provide services at

different time for the same destination.

The Shahab Perdana Terminal in Alor Setar has facilities such as convenience shops, toilets,

ticketing counter and payer rooms. However, there is no proper taxi station as taxi drivers can

be seen loitering around the bus terminal.

The pedestrian infrastructure in Penang Central is under construction. This has caused public

the inconvenience to walk from the Butterworth KTM station to the bus terminal. However,

both pedestrian walk ways from KTM station and bus terminal to the ferry service are quite

direct and the distances are short.

The bus service provides online ticket service while the KTMB only sell ETS tickets online.

Those who want to buy regular commuter tickets need to go to the station before boarding

onto the train.

The bus can be trapped into very bad traffic jam during day time or during festive seasons.

The safety and punctuality of the bus need to be improved in order to increase the public trust

and confidence on the bus service.

Bus service in Malaysia is operated by private sector but the operating licenses are given by

government while the train service provider KTMB is a corporate which needs to report to

the government. Government do not interrupt the operation and business decision making of

KTMB.

In conclusion, the train service is better than the bus service based on this experience. The

train service is punctual, safe, and reliable. It also has higher frequency. The train service can
be further improved by providing more comfortable seats to the passengers. On the contrary,

the only advantage bus service has over the train service is the comfort of seats provided. The

bus service fails to provide safety arrival, high punctuality and high frequency to the

passengers. However, it is hope that the government can build a busway system like the one

in Brisbane, Australia so that the passengers can feel the ease of public bus transport.