KUALA LUMPUR: About 18% of the total of 159,840 tickets for ETS services offered during the Hari Raya Aidilfitri festive season are still available, says Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.

       The Transport Minister said that as of Thursday, 29,479 tickets were still available while 130,361 tickets had been sold.

       “This means that 82% of the tickets for 32 ETS trips during the Hari Raya Aidilfitri festive season have been sold,” he said after distributing Hari Raya goodie bags to KTMB passengers at KL Sentral here yesterday.

       Also present was KTMB chief executive officer Mohd Rani Hisham Samsudin.

       As for the additional ETS tickets from KL Sentral to Padang Besar, Perlis, Dr Wee said 85% of the tickets had been sold while 659 were still available.

       He said all tickets for the special Keluarga Malaysia train service from KL Sentral to Tumpat, Kelantan, had been snapped up.

       “KTMB added 180 extra seats to meet the high demand and these have sold out as well.

       Comfortable journey: Dr Wee checking in on passengers at Terminal Bersepadu Selatan travelling back to their hometowns. — YAP CHEE HONG/The Star

       “For Tumpat-KL Sentral route on May 7, there are still 246 superior seats left,” he added.

       On April 14, KTM announced the special Ekspres Khas Keluarga Malaysia train service to the east coast and extra ETS services for the upcoming festive celebration.

       The Keluarga Malaysia train service was slated to depart from KL Sentral at 11pm last night and will reach Tumpat at 3.53pm today, making pit stops at 17 stations such as Bandar Tasik Selatan, Kajang, Nilai, Seremban, Pulau Sebang, Mentakab, Jerantut, Gua Musang and Pasir Mas.

       The return trip is on May 7, departing from Tumpat at 10.50pm and reaching KL Sentral at 3.04pm the next day.

       Dr Wee congratulated KTMB for making this special Keluarga Malaysia train service a success, as the festive traffic heading to the east coast had been high.

       “With these train services, traffic jams on the roads will be less, making the journey more comfortable for those who travel back to their hometown,” he said.

       He noted that various coaches are provided on this special train service, where passengers can comfortably eat, pray and relax with their family and friends throughout the journey.

       He also said there are still more than 59,000 tickets under the KTM Intercity services up for grabs, such as the Ekpres Rakyat Timuran, Ekpres Selatan and Shuttle Timuran.

       Dr Wee called on passengers to arrive early for their trains, reminding them that congestion and crowding is expected during the festive period.

       Mohd Rani said all KTMB trains would continue to observe the stipulated standard operating procedure, which is that all passengers are required to mask up when taking public transport.

       Dr Wee also visited Terminal Bersepadu Selatan where he met some passengers travelling back to their hometowns by bus.