KTM: An exercise in patience

I'm currently interning at a bank, and have been travelling to work every morning via the KTM. Now, let me tell you, this deserves a pat on the back. Nobody else deserves this more than us poor people who are forced to a life of misery on the commute to and fro work.

I wake up early every morning at half six to catch the 7.06am Express Train (which incidently have been moved back to 6.38am due to Ramadan) which only stops at a few stations like Nilai, Serdang and other important stops. It skips the superfluous stops like Tiroi and Salak Selatan. How many people use these stops anyway?

As I have lived in London for the past two years, I am used to a centralised train system. You only need one ticket or Oyster as their Touch and Go is called. It allows you to travel anywhere on the train station using this system and you don't have to get out of a station and pay for a new ticket to change lines, unlike here. I was extremely annoyed when I had to get out of Masjid Jamek, walk under the pouring rain, then PAY for another ticket to Bangsar.

But I digress, my main gripe is about the KTM. The first day I took the KTM to work, I was well late because the train just stopped. There was a lot of smoke coming out of the engine. Then, the driver instructed everyone to get off the train, walk on the tracks and climb onto another train. I was in complete shock; it was too early in the morning for me to be thinking coherently and now I have to climb off the train in a skirt, walk on the tracks and climb onto another train?? What an inauspicious start.

A few days later, when I was on my way home from work, a friend and I were sitting on the train, happily chatting away when suddenly the whole train started jerking violently. We all looked at each other in panic, what on earth was going on? The train started tilting to its side and it was at this moment that I burst into laughter.

The situation was just far too comical for me to handle; tears streamed down my face as I laughed even harder. All the other commuters were looking at me strange but that just provoked even deeper chuckles. It seemed too ironic - how can the KTM fail me again within the span of 72 hours? What sort of safety record do they hold? Or is it just that I have the worst luck with trains?

Luckily, the derailment wasn't too serious. Yet again, we were instructed to climb off the train, walk on the tracks and get onto another train. This time, I jumped on and off expertly, eliciting the surprised cries of the KTM workers,

"Wah, ni expert!"

"Yeahlah, tiap-tiap hari train henti, apa nak buat? Kenalah expert."