Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) in collaboration with the Transport Ministry, will offer free 24-hour train services in conjunction with Thaipusam this year, alongside a significant increase in train frequencies to accommodate the festive surge.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the extended operations will run form 30th January to 2nd February 2026, with free rides available from 12AM on 31st January until 11.59PM on 1st February 2026. Thaipusam falls on 1st February.
“In anticipation of close to 2.5 million users during the festive period, we are increasing train frequencies by 23 per cent compared to 2025,” he said during the announcement at KL Sentral.
More Trips to Batu Caves, Round-The-Clock Operations
As part of the enhanced operations, KTMB will add 216 additional trips to Batu Caves running at one-hour intervals to facilitate smoother movement of devotees. Loke said ticket sales will open on 26th January, with payments accepted via the QR-Based KITS wallet, Touch ‘n Go, Komuter Link cards, debit or credit cards as well as ticket kiosks.
To support last-mile connectivity, KTMB will also deploy 30 additional shuttle busses operating every 10 minutes on a 24-hour basis.
“Free rides from 31st January until 2nd February will also be implemented. We expected around 450,000 users during this period, which is the system’s full capacity,” he said.
28 Stations to Operate 24 Hours
A total of 28 stations will operate round the clock, including key stations such as Batu Caves, Taman Wahyu, Kampung Batu, Sentul, Putra, Bank Negara, Kuala Lumpur, KL Sentral, Bandar Tasik Selatan, Kajang, Nilai, Seremban, Sungai Gadut, Subang, Shah Alam, Klang, and Pelabuhan Klang, among others. For Batu Caves-bound commuters using the MRT, Loke advised travelling via Kwasa Sentral, Sungai Buloh, Sri Damansara Timur or Tun Razak Exchange.
The minister said the free ride initiative, which will cost close to RM1million is aimed at easing congestion and speeding up passenger flow during peal periods.
“If there are new users or non-regular public transport users, they may take time to purchase tickets, which could cause congestion. This initiative helps speed up the process,” he said.
Additional ETS Services for Chinese New Year
Separately, Loke announced that KTMB will introduce additional Electric Train Service (ETS) trips for the upcoming Chinese New Year period, after tickers were nearly fully sold out.
The added ETS services will operate from 13th to 22nd February on high-demand routes including KL Sentral-Butterworth, KL Sentral-Ipoh and KL Sentral-Johor Bahru. This will provide an additional 26,460 tickets and bring the total ETS frequency during the period to 52 trips per day. Ticket sales for the added service will open on 29th January.
Early Surge in Raya Ticket Demand
Looking ahead to Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Loke said demand was already strong, with 44 per cent of tickets sold, and projected that tickets would be fully snapped up by February.
To cater for balik kampung travel, KTMB will introduce additional ETS services from 13 March to 29th march on routes including JB Sentral-KL Sentral-JB Sentral, KL Sentral-Padang Besar-KL Sentral, KL Sentral-Ipoh-KL Sentral and KL Sentral-Butterworth-KL Sentral with two additional trips per day.
“We expect Hari Raya tickets to sell out, so these additional services are meant to help passengers plan their journeys early and travel more comfortably during the festive season,” he said.
Source: MalayMail
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