KTMB Union Criticised Transport Minister Over 'Wild Accusations'

The Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) has been a very hot topic as of late, and it just got hotter with the war of words between the Railwaymen’s Union of Malaya (RUM) President, Abdul Razak Md Hassan, and Malaysia's Transport Minister, Wee Ka Siong.

RUM claimed that the reason behind KTMB's poor service was due to the train sets obtained by the ministry through direct negotiations. Abdul Razak added that the 10 sets of Electric Train Service (ETS) procured directly from China were of poor quality. In other words, RUM is pointing the finger at the transport ministry over KTM's poor service.

KTM poor service due to poor quality train sets?

*Image credit: KTMB

Wee Ka Siong later slammed RUM over its 'wild accusations' and replied by stating that the train set procurements made by the ministry were carefully and meticulously carried out via a stringent process plus being overseen by a committee.

It's a whole back and forth thing between these two parties, with Abdul Razak having the last word by stating that open tenders for train set purchases should be the way to go as the selection would take into account multiple factors such as quality and price.

*Image credit: KTMB

What is the solution, Dear KTMB?

The public has been very vocal as of late regarding KTMB's train frequencies and delayed trips, which led to them being the less popular choice of public transport. The union explained that apart from the faulty trains, it was also due to the Klang Valley Dual Tracking project (KVDT2) Phase 2 being postponed.

At the end of the day, these are the issues that are being faced by KTMB, and it seems that the transport ministry is already aware of the causes/problems that led to these issues. The next set of questions would be, who will fix these issues, and when will it be done?