After waiting for so long and experienced a lot of inconveniences, KLites finally got their long awaited MRT. The first ride open to public was on 16 December 2016. The public are rewarded with free rides on the trains and feeder buses for a month until 16 January 2017 :)
A lot of people (including me) took advantage of the free period to test the latest sensation. This new MRT is very convenient to me because the feeder bus stop is just in front of my neighbourhood guard house. The feeder bus route is also very good. The buses should not be caught in a jam. That will ensure a more reliable service :)
The buses and the trains are new so everything are nice and clean. Thumbs up! The bus drivers however are a different kettle of fish altogether. Some are friendly and helpful but most I met are sullen and one was downright rude. He actually shouted to the customers to take the tickets!
I took 5 separate rides during this free period. On 30 December 2016, we went from station closest to our house Surian to Semantan (where my old office was located). Then we turned back and went the other way to the last station Sungai Buloh. In between we stopped at Taman Tun and Mutiara Damansara stations.
My second ride on 4 January 2017 was to go to Ikea Mutiara Damansara to meet my friend. Went out from my house at 9 am. I was expecting more people since it was a working day. Maybe they were already in the office since I was the only one in the feeder bus and the trains were also quite empty :P
My third ride was to meet up with my friends for lunch at Hameediyah on 6 January 2017. Since Dataran Sunway is well known for scarce parking bays I decided to avail myself to the free feeder bus since the restaurant is exactly in front of Surian station :)
My fourth ride was on Sunday 8 January 2017. This time round I wish to check the feeder bus route from Mutiara Damansara station. I was expecting more people but surprisingly it was not so.
For those who wish to go to 1 Utama Shopping Complex, it is better for them to stop at Mutiara Damansara instead of Bandar Utama station. Then take the feeder bus T809 at Door B. It will bring you to 1 Utama New Wing within 5-10 minutes :)
My fifth and last ride was on Saturday, 14 January 2017. This time round there were a lot more people on the trains and buses :) Maybe more people realised that the free period will end soon (in 2 days time) :P
For this ride we stopped at Bandar Utama station and walked to 1 Utama Shopping Complex. The walk is around 5 mins. There is no proper walkway yet to connect the station to 1 Utama :( The feeder bus route is also quite long winded to reach the shopping complex. There is however a free shuttle bus but the frequency is every half an hour. Not fast enough for me :P
My verdict: Great potential. Very convenient. They just need to improve on the attitude of the bus drivers and make sure all the lifts and escalators are working. Timing and frequency of the feeder buses are also crucial to the success of the system.
As at the posting time the daily, weekly, monthly passes prices are not yet announced. I hope the pricing will be competitive enough to encourage people who drives to work to use the MRT system. The single journey fares are not very competitive. It is cheaper to travel by car (not to mention more convenient) for 2 people than taking the MRT even after factoring in the parking costs. It is only more economical for a single traveller. Travelling on motorbikes are also cheaper and more flexible.
I hope the government will take this into account when they announce the fares for the passes. We need to have less cars on the road!
During this soft opening period, the route open is only from Sungai Buloh to Semantan. The full route until Kajang will only be opened in July 2017.
For more pictures of my adventure, do check out my instagram:
http://instagram.com/m.kha.sha #mksPublicTransportation #mks20161230 #mks20170104 #mks20170114 #mks20170116
AN UPDATE: I was in kiasu mode so decided to take the last free rides since today (16 January 2017) is the last day. So in total I tested 6 times this new MRT :) After this, back to driving my car :P
The pictures in this post were taken on 14 January 2017. Clear blue sky. Beautiful :)
