Public bus deal set for go-ahead - The Malaysian Insider

23 June 2015

A public bus service provider and the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) are set to formally agree on a deal to improve public transport in and around Ipoh, according to Perak Public Transport Committee chairman Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon.

“The bus service provider will prepare a timetable and route lists within a month,” he said to The Star Online, adding that there would be 16 routes.

However, he also said that there were requirements that the service provider need to meet before the state would ink the agreement, which falls under the umbrella of the Federal Government’s Stage Bus Service Transformation (SBST) programme.

Dr Mah said that the programme also gave authorities the right to set the operating costs of the service provider, which in practice meant that revenue would go to SPAD and the commission would then allocate funds to the provider accordingly, based on distance covered.

“The operator will be paid a rate for every kilometre covered by each bus,” Dr Mah added.

“We know that we cannot continue to serve some areas. It’s not profitable.

Dr Mah also mentioned that manpower and training was an issue that they would have to face.

“The state is aware of these matters and will strive to improve the public transportation system,” he said, adding that the operator would primarily be judged by the state on the quality of its service.

On the fast track to Ipoh - Star

Dec 15 09 - By SARBAN SINGH

SEREMBAN: Rail commuters will be able to travel from here to Ipoh in less than three hours when Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) introduces its inter-city express train service (ETS) from April 1.

The premium service, which will among others have wi-fi services, will only stop at major stations along the way.

A source said KTMB had already received a new set of the trains from South Korea and trial runs were expected to begin in the coming weeks.

“Since the train has a maximum speed of 120kph and is built based on the latest technology, commuters will be able to get from one point to another quicker,” he said.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat is scheduled to launch the service in Kuala Lumpur today.

The source said KTMB would get four more train sets by February.

“Each train will have six coaches which can accommodate some 300 sitting passengers,” he said.

KTMB introduced the normal Kuala Lumpur-Ipoh shuttle service beginning December last year. The journey between Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh takes about three hours.

However, the new train set has a diesel-run locomotive with inter-city coaches.

It is understood that the ETS will, among others, stop at the Nilai/KLIA, Bandar Tasek Selatan, KL Sentral, Tg Malim, Tapah, Kampar and Batu Gajah stations.

With the ETS, the travelling time from Seremban to Kuala Lumpur will be 45 minutes while the KL-Ipoh route will take about two hours and 10 minutes.

The source said the new train set will look like an upgraded version of the present KTM Komuter trains.

“It will have comfortable seats and brightly lit coaches.

“The seats will also be spacious,” he said.

The source said since it was a premium service, commuters must be prepared to pay more to travel on the train.

“This is a departure from the old mode of rail travel.

“We want commuters to feel even more comfortable and to be able to do work while in the train,” he said, adding that the proposed fare had yet to be approved by the Transport Ministry.

It is understood that the service will begin at 5am with the last being at 10pm at two-hour intervals.

Ipoh terminal plan still alive - Star

Jul 2, 2009 BY CLARA CHOOI

THE Ipoh Central Terminal Hub, a Perak Pakatan Rakyat project aimed at easing the city’s public transport problems, is still on but the group undertaking the project must give the state government a proper proposal.

Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir said he had instructed the group to hand him a more comprehensive proposal than the present one so that they will be able to work things out as soon as possible.

“I have already instructed the state authorities to allow the group to acquire the piece of land where the bus terminal will be built,” he said.

Dr Zambry, who was speaking to reporters after distributing education aid to 442 students at the State Secretariat on Monday, said the current city bus terminals in Medan Kidd and Medan Gopeng needed to be improved instead of being relocated.

In September last year, the Pakatan Rakyat-led government signed an agreement with Combined Bus Services Sdn Bhd, a consortium of 14 city bus operators which agreed to invest RM38mil to construct the terminal in Meru Raya and a further RM150mil to equip the city with 300 modern air-conditioned coaches.

According to former exco member in charge of public transport Nga Kor Ming, a groundbreaking ceremony had already been held at the 3.4ha site allocated for the terminal.

“The consortium has already spent some RM2mil on its first batch of buses which were supposed to be plying the city routes earlier this year,” he said when contacted.

“There was even a competition to name the buses and we had already decided on the name ‘Perak Flyer’.”

Nga alleged that Dr Zambry had offered the consortium the land premium at market rate while Pakatan’s agreement was to give them a nominal premium.

“How can the investors pay so much?” he asked.

IPOH: Compelling reasons to revamp city's public transport system - NST

By : VICTOR CHEW, Ipoh

MANY letters and reports have appeared in the newspapers about the problems of public transport in Ipoh city but very little has been done to solve them.
And nothing came out of a seminar in Ipoh last year on the same subject because of the ongoing political crisis in the state. How long must we wait for a comprehensive public transport system to serve Ipoh for the next 10 to 20 years?

Many people, including city officials, think that Ipoh is a small place and that its public transport needs are not urgent. They are wrong. Traffic congestion is becoming worse with schools being the major cause of traffic jams. This problem surfaced in the early 1960s; many mayors tried to solve it but were met with opposition from school bodies when they suggested that schools be relocated from the city centre to the outskirts.

Why not keep the schools where they are but force parents to find alternative ways to sent their children to school? If they want the top schools like the Convent, St Michael's Institution, Anderson, ACS, Ave Maria and Perak Girls School to be in the city proper, then they have to pay an alternative cost, that of sending their children by schoolbuses.

Their cars, the main cause of traffic congestion, must not be allowed in. They should be made to pay a toll for doing so during school peak hours. During these hours, a toll should be collected from parents who send and fetch their children.
However, in the long run, looking at the way Ipoh is being developed with radical expansion of housing estates all around, its central business district (CBD) will become very congested.

The streets within the CBD will not be able to cope. There will be perpetual traffic jams and lack of parking spaces and these problems will get worse when cars are double-parked. It is already happening outside banks and offices.

The solution is to coordinate the current bus services under a planning commission set up either by the city council or the Perak government. This commission will re-plan the routes to be serviced by existing companies and give them priority to increase services and routes if they want to. If they are unable to fulfil all the planned services, new companies should be allowed to run such services.

This commission will also be responsible for the issue of new licences for public transport and taxis for Ipoh City. In addition, this commission should be given the sole responsibility to take action against defaulting service providers. In this way, we have a central body within the city to control public transport operators, unlike now where everyone seems to have a say and no one wants to say anything.

Furthermore, it is time to start planning a light railway transport system. With the existing electrified dual carriage railway tracks of Keretaapi Tanah Melayu, a central link from Ipoh North to Ipoh South will become possible. Commuter services can run from as far north as Sungai Siput to as far south as Kampar. We also need a few east-west branch lines to complete the system.

A detailed map was produced by two of the speakers in the Ipoh City Watch Seminar on Public Transport; the authorities could use them as a guide.

I hope transport officials will consider the above ideas when planning Ipoh's public transport system. A good public transport system rejuvenates a city but a city with a messy public transport system is bound to be in a state of decay.

Firefly to fly Ipoh-S’pore route from July 12 - Star

June 8, 2009 By CHRISTINA KOH

IPOH: Firefly, which billed itself as “your community airline”, will take off from Ipoh to Singapore route starting July 12.

The all-inclusive promotional fare is RM88 one way, going up to RM300 depending on the time of booking.

FlyFirefly Sdn Bhd managing director Eddy Leong said the route would “open up Ipoh to the world.”

The one-hour-and-20 minute flight will be available on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays It departs here at 4.45pm, arriving at the Changi budget terminal at 6.05pm.

From Singapore, the new 72-seater aircraft takes off at 2.50pm and lands at the Sultan Azlan Shah airport here at 4.10pm.

”We have been in discussion with the Perak government since 2007 to provide accessibility to exploit the untapped and hidden treasures of Perak,” Leong said after a briefing with the state, tour agents and hotel operators at the state secretariat here Monday.

He said Firefly would provide free refreshments and snacks, assigned seats and free 20kg baggage allowance for check-in baggage.

To a question, Leong said Singapore was the only destination from Ipoh for now, but added that one possibility was an Ipoh to KLIA route in the future.

The RM88 promotion is available for booking (www.fireflyz.com.my or call 03-7845 4543) from now until Oct 24.

Other Singapore destinations that Firefly would be flying are Subang (July 1), Kuala Terengganu (July 14), Kuantan (July 22) and Malacca (Sept 1).

Ipoh airport set for revival with new regional flights - Star

By SYLVIA LOOI and CLARA CHOOI

IPOH: The under-utilised Sultan Az­­lan Shah Airport here will be revived again with the introduction of several regional flights.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat said the Ipoh-Singapore route had been approved for two air­lines; while one airline had been gi­­ven the green light for the Ipoh-Me­­dan sector.

“The air rights had been sorted out with the respective countries. The onus is on the airlines concerned on when they will start flying,” said Ong, who is also the MCA president.

Besides the two sectors, the Transport Ministry had also received applications to operate flights from Ipoh to Guangzhou, China.

“It is expected to be approved too. It is up to the respective airlines on the frequency of flights they wish to operate,” he told reporters after opening the MCA 60th anniversary dinner organised by Perak MCA here on Sunday.

Noting that transportation was con­­sidered a catalyst for growth, Ong said the Perak MCA was always involved with efforts to boost the economy in the state.

On extending the airport’s runway to accommodate larger planes, Ong said it might involve tedious land acquisitions.

The ministry, he added, was studying the alternative, which was to construct a new airport.

On another matter, Ong said Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) had been instructed to follow up on land swapping with the Perak Government over the case of squatters staying on railway land at Kuala Sepetang and Simpang Halt.

Meanwhile, Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir said the state government was waiting for a response from the Federal Go­­vern­­ment to its RM50mil request to extend the airport runway by 200m.

“I have written to the Prime Minister. As this is considered a high-impact project, I expect that he will respond to our request very soon,” he told a press conference af­­ter attending the launch of SMK Sultan Azlan Shah religious school’s 25th jubilee celebration yesterday.

Dr Zambry said that the runway extension would finally facilitate the landing of Airbuses at the airport.

On the intention to build a new airport, Dr Zambry said the state had identified two possible sites in Perak Tengah and Lembah Beriah.