ETS: Intercity station

ETS ride

I wonder what it is..

Spotted 'this' while on ETS, approaching the Batu Gajah Station.I wonder what it is..

Test-run the rail: Part 2

Come to think of it, we never planned this 'test-run the rail' as part of the escapade for the whole family to venture in during weekends, but we did and I guess the ride of ETS would our Part 1 escapade?!  ;)

Anyway, we didn't have anything specific in mind of how to spend this weekend but we felt that we owe it to the children-too much time for work and less-time spend on them during weekdays. So, we decided to take them for a ride, of course our initial thought was 'the whole rail system' but unfortunately we managed to cover only one as the day's temperature was getting unbearable to jump from one rail to another ( the rail system in Kuala Lumpur was seriously not efficient giving the fact that it does not integrate closely to one another, for instance we have to walk more than 500meter under the sun to get from KL Sentral to KL Monorail and we are not talking about the heat of summer in Paris but this is Kuala Lumpur plus having to drag 5 year old child for that distance is not a good idea giving the fact that they will turn grumpy by the end of the hour!!)

So, from our breakfast spot in Kelana Jaya (it was brunch actually), we drive on to KLCC and we chose to park our car at an open car park next to Hotel Maya opposite BSN Bank and it cost us only RM3.50 per entry. Then, we walk our way to KLCC LRT Station, of course we chose to walk through inside KLCC rather than using the pedestrian path along Jalan Ampang.

We bought the ticket from the ticket machine and it was easy to use and it cost RM1.60 per journey from KLCC to KL Sentralflat rate for adult/children above 6. At first we did anticipate to ride on the KL Monorail but the walking distance to the station (which is way in Brickfields and not within the KL Sentral compound) has put us off. For a second we did thought of riding on the 'hop-in, hop-off' shuttle service but since it was already 3pm so spending RM19 per person for the trip was deem rather non-economical thing to do. Preferably it should be done early in the morning so we could enjoy the journey better and it would be value for money. So we decide to  head back to KLCC and spent the rest of the evening there..

riding ETS again..

I’m heading for Ipoh tonight via ETS (Electronic Train Service). Was rushing home from work and the weather was bad which causing the traffic to be congestedly bad as well. Fetch the children from their daycare center and rush home for a quick shower before we embark to KL Sentral - right in the middle of KL city centre, which is roughly half an hour from our home. You see, I had to fetch my parents and bring over my brother's car and there's no other free time to do it, other than in the middle of the week.

My daughter is tagging along with the journey and the ticket for KL-Ipoh cost RM30 for adult and RM19 for each child. Given the fact that this would be the second ride, I have now keep an open eye for more details of the whole scene. I noticed that the luminaires provided over the lobby of Platform B, seems not to be sufficient enough as the whole ambience was quite dim rather than brightly lighted. And if it were not with the 'help' from all the retail kiosk nearby the whole ambience would be vividly dimmer. As I did my theorical study on lighting and its efficiency, I would dare say that the whole ambience need some rectification, so it'll be agood task for the electrical engineer to go back and do their maths - which is what they're are best at.

Upon embarking the train, it was being annouced that the journey was estimated to be 2hrs 13mins and if everything goes well, I shall reach Ipoh by 11pm. It didn't missed my attention that the uniform wear by cabin crew were a little bit out of corporate quality - a collared jersey to represent ETS corporate service attire, which I believe should be improved as it lacks in terms of presentation.

While on board, I’m testing my mobile broadband and so far the connection was doing okay at certain places and it goes off at certain other places, but overall I can still log on to my FB and also blog this out, superb.
Safety precautions that I’m applying here while travelling with little toddler is, everything is close intact with me – every important essential that is, so that when she had to go to the loo, I’m always ready to move.

The whole 2hrs journey seems fast, and as scheduled, provided the train stops at 9 stations altogether. We finally arrived in Ipoh after 2hrs 15mins!! And everything was smooth...

Ipoh via ETS

Safely arrive in Ipoh for a total of 2hrs 15mins. The ETS ride was smooth, but it cost a ‘bomb’ to fork out RM102  (RM30 per adult, RM21 per children between 4-12, of  KL-Ipoh route) to actually get 4 of us (2 adult and 2 children) to travel for a one-way ride from KL to Ipoh, plus the hassle to get someone to send us to KL Sentral from our residence in Subang and again for someone else to fetch us at the Ipoh Station! Whereas, for the same amount, I can get to Ipoh via own car at the comfort of door to door, to and fro!

dark and gloomy platform of KL Sentral

the ride

entertainment on board - top left corner is the speed its going

Economically, that, would be one of the main concern of using ETS, but of course the ride was fun and relaxing, the children was enjoying themselves with the comfort, and the space allocated for each seat was quite generous. Also, there's a 3-pin power point outlet at the wall, just under the seat for each window seat, so people can actually link their gadget to the power, but of course you have to ask for a window seat then (at this moment, the ticket price remain the same).

station on display

escalator is now avalaible to connect between north and south bound platform

However, I think KTMB should take immediate action to clear out all the rubbish which has been littering along the route. It's so horrifying to see all those litter even under the darkening ambience of twilight.Also, I hope better consideration would take place to study the economical factor of the ticket price, since our public transportation were still not efficient unlike Singapore where all the transportation are well integrated. ETS might solve the issue of how to get from Ipoh to KL under 2hrs but you can't easily get yourself around in KL let say Kl  Sentral to Damansara, there is no public transport other than taxi. And ETS management also need to do feasibility studies of the prices that they are offering - RM204 for a family  of 4 for a journey from KL to Ipoh is not feasible at all if you are comparing to the comfort of traveling with own vehicle. I usually spent RM100 which cover the petrol and the toll - to and fro!!

Anyway, if you are fellow Malaysian, do give ETS a try..

Note: ETS counter ticket would be on right-section of KL Sentral, whereas the Shuttle Service's ticket were sold at KTMB counter situated on the left-section of KL Sentral, upon entering its foyer, if you are coming from Hilton Hotel's direction