THE Seremban-Nilai-KL Sentral-Sentul Komuter Express by Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTMB) with only seven stops and a shorter travelling time of 20 minutes between Seremban and Kuala Lumpur has been reinstated.

Cancelled several years ago due to low ridership, it was brought back again after a meeting between Transport Minister Anthony Loke and KTMB.

Last month, Loke was reported to have said that the reinstatement of the train service was among the many issues the ministry discussed with KTMB.

The decision to resume the service was made as train users between the two destinations increased tremendously over the years.

KTMB corporate communications head Rozimah Mahyiddin said the express service, which resumed on July 25, caters to the working crowd. It has only one stop, in Nilai, between Seremban and KL Sentral.

The Seremban-Nilai-KL Sentral-Sentul Komuter Express is comfortable and less crowded.

“The Seremban-Nilai-KL Sentral- Sentul express line can accommodate 1,118 passengers. The train will leave Seremban at 6.50am, arriving in KL Sentral at 8am, before proceeding to three other stops to arrive at its final destination in Sentul at 8.23am. Ticket prices for the whole journey is RM8,” said Rozimah in a WhatsApp interview.

For return journey in the evenings, an express return trip to Seremban leaves the KL Sentral station at 5.55pm to reach the capital of Negri Sembilan at 7.10pm.

The express service is only available on weekdays. It does not run on weekends and public holidays.

Seremban commuters who have to travel to the city centre daily such as student, Marsya Radzi, 25, are happy with KTMB’s new express line. She said the fare, timeliness and comfortable ride were winning factors.

Costing only RM7.40 from Seremban to KL Sentral, the new express line has been observed to be less crowded as the coaches have yet to meet the maximum passenger capacity. Since its introduction in July, the maximum average of its daily ridership is 501 passengers.

Dineswary Sathivel, 21, a teacher from Seremban, who works at a private educational institute in the city, said she relied on the KTM Komuter service earlier. “But with 12 stops in between Seremban and KL Sentral, the journey took longer and was more stressful,” she said.

Long queues at the Seremban train station shows the growing demand by commuters between Kuala Lumpur and Seremban.

An extra line to lessen passenger load so that those heading towards Pulau Sebang may have more breathing space is a relief to commuters like Zulhelmi Hussin, 25, a site supervisor who lives in Rembau.

“It is good that there are two trains leaving just minutes between each other heading in the same direction. This way you divide the passenger load,” said Zulhelmi.

There are no dearth of trains going to and from Seremban and Kuala Lumpur. They run at 40 minute intervals plying the two destination on the Batu Caves-Pulau Sebang line daily.

The electric train service (ETS) also services these two destinations with the first train leaving Seremban at 8.45am and the second at 4.15pm The ETS return trip from KL Sentral to Seremban is at noon and midnight.