Several initiatives have been introduced to assist voters travelling home for the Johor state election this Saturday, including free bus services and additional train capacity to accommodate the expected increase in passenger demand.
A non-governmental organisation (NGO), Stesen Pemantauan Rakyat, has prepared six free buses to transport 240 voters from Kuala Lumpur and Singapore back to Johor to fulfil their voting responsibilities during the 16th Johor state election.
The NGO’s representative, Yong Shui Wen, said four buses would operate from Kuala Lumpur, while another two would cater to voters from Singapore, with passengers picked up at the Sultan Iskandar Building Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) Complex.
The buses will travel to several destinations including Tangkak, Muar, Batu Pahat, Pekan Nanas, Segamat, Labis, Kluang, Ayer Hitam and Kulai. The service from Kuala Lumpur is scheduled to depart at 9pm on Friday, while buses from the CIQ BSI will leave at 9pm on Friday and 9am on Saturday.
Yong said the NGO has been running the initiative since 2018 and has continued to receive encouraging response from Johor voters living outside the state. All available seats for this year’s service have already been fully booked, reflecting strong demand among outstation voters.
Meanwhile, Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) has also increased its train capacity for electric train services (ETS) to the southern region from Friday until Sunday to accommodate the expected surge in travel during the election period.
KTMB Group chief executive officer Datuk Azlan Shah Al Bakri said an additional 7,560 seats have been added for the KL Sentral–JB Sentral–KL Sentral route, bringing the total capacity to 15,120 seats.
As of 7.45am, 84 per cent or 12,769 seats on the route had already been sold, leaving 2,351 seats available for booking. KTMB also increased capacity for the Gemas–JB Sentral–Gemas route from 630 seats to 4,410 seats during the same period to facilitate movement among voters within Johor.
Azlan added that 47 per cent or 2,064 seats on the Gemas-JB Sentral route had been booked, with 2,346 seats still available. Checks through the KTMB Mobile application showed that several peak travel periods on Friday and Saturday were almost fully booked, although passengers were advised to continue checking ticket availability.
The 16th Johor state election will see 172 candidates contesting 56 state assembly seats, with the outcome to be decided by 2,727,926 registered voters this Saturday.
