KUALA LUMPUR, July 3 — Public accessibility infrastructure was in dire condition at most stations on the KTM Komuter line, according to a public transportation advocate who said he personally inspected all 59.

The X (formerly Twitter) user @slainthayer, who previously undertook a similar inspection 40 MRT stations in 2022, said the most glaring fault was in terms of escalator maintenance.

“Out of 38 escalators that I counted on KTM stations, 18 of them broke down. That's almost HALF of the escalators not working.

“The biggest culprit is Kajang, 2 stations with all 6 of their escalators not operating,” he said on the social media platform.

He explained, however, that the informal survey excluded escalators that were blocked off once the train platforms closed.

Only 20 stations had toilets accessible to persons with disabilities (PwDs) while another 20 stations did not have toilets for them at all, he said.

This was due to KTM keeping these toilets locked or incorporating designs that made physical access difficult for PwDs.

“For example, toilets for PwDs are located at the platform level for the Batu Caves KTM line. But, if they are locked, the PwD commuters have to go back up to the concourse level to ask the staff to unlock the toilets,” he said.

However, he noted that almost all of the 75 lifts at the stations were functional, except two at the Batu Caves station and one each at the KL Sentral, Shah Alam and Sentul stations.

“While KTM has spent billions of ringgit to maintain its railway tracks, they are not investing enough to make their stations more accessible and user-friendly,” he told Malay Mail while asking to remain unnamed.

In 2022, the transit advocate embarked on a similar survey on the condition of lifts and escalators in 40 MRT stations under Rapid KL in 2022.

Back then, he found that 51 out of the 357 escalators in the stations were out of order, but only three lifts were not functional.

His survey prompted Rapid KL to step up maintenance works as well as announce the status of their lifts and escalators through weekly updates on their website.

The transit advocate urged KTM to emulate Rapid KL in making its stations more accessible to commuters from all walks of life.

“I want public transport in Malaysia to be something that the average Malaysian can take pride in and use it daily,” he said.

https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2024/07/03/how-bad-are-our-ktm-stations-one-public-transport-advocate-visits-59-to-find-out/142593