The total ridership for the Klang Valley’s public rail transportation system between January and August this year has increased by 12 percent year-on-year, according to the Malaysian Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD).
In terms of numbers, the January-August ridership for 2017 to-date stood at 638,605 compared to 570,021 for the corresponding period in 2016. This number does not include ridership from the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Line 1 which was only launched this year.
The increase represents a notable rebound after a 9 percent full-year ridership drop in 2016 following a fare hike exercise in 2015. In 2015, the same eight-month period saw 629,258 riders.
Partly driving the rebound could be the promotional period between July 17th to August 31st where fares for the LRT, Monorail and MRT services were reduced by 50%.
The Kelana Jaya LRT Line saw the biggest increase at 26 percent for the eight-month period under review while the KL Monorail services saw an 11 percent drop in ridership.
Daily Ridership for Urban Rail on upward Trend: 2016 vs 2017 (Pax/Daily)
| Rail Service | Jan-Dec 2016 | Jan-Aug’ 2017 | Percentage |
| LRT Kelana Jaya Line | 215,855 | 271,250 | 26% |
| LRT Ampang Line | 161,729 | 184,931 | 14% |
| KTM Komuter | 108,023 | 103,074 | -5% |
| KL Monorail | 60,083 | 53,337 | -11% |
| KLIA Transit | 17,719 | 19,420 | 10% |
| KLIA Ekspres | 6,612 | 6,593 | -0.3% |
| Total (without MRT) | 570,021 | 638,605 | 12% |
| MRT * Full Line Opening | – | 101, 024 | – |
| Total (with MRT) | 739,629 | 30% |
Source: SPAD
In a statement, SPAD also explained some ridership drop for several public transportation lines this year as being caused by upgrade works:
- KTM Komuter’s ridership fell 5 percent from 108,023 last year to 103,074 due to the Klang Valley Double Track (KDVT) rehabilitation project which affected frequency.
- KL Monorail’s ridership fell 11 percent as frequency was reduced after five four-car train sets were removed due to safety concerns.
“We expect ridership to stabilise and pick up once the KVDT rehabilitation work which covers the upgrading of track and signalling systems is completed in 2019 to modernise the 42km-KTM Komuter network,” SPAD said.
SPAD also said riders are now happier with the urban public transport, with 84 percent of respondents for its independent Customer Satisfaction Index survey expressing satisfaction last year, a 10 percentage point increase from the previous year.