HSR Price Structure, The Key To Draw Commuters - Experts

By Niam Seet Wei KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 29 (Bernama) -- Experts have suggested that the fare structure of the Kuala Lumpur (KL)-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) plays a crucial role in drawing more commuters to use the train service. KGV International Property Consultants Executive Director, Samuel Tan, said a research showed that the HSR ticket should not be priced more than 40 per cent of the people's daily cost of driving, which includes toll and petrol expenses. "The people will not opt to travel with HSR if the prices are too expensive, therefore, it will not help ease traffic congestion and will go against the objective of encouraging more people to travel by train," he said. He was speaking to Bernama on the sidelines of "The Edge Property Symposium on HSR 2016" here, Saturday. Tan said how much the people would fork out from their monthly take-home pay was another parameter to consider in deciding on the ticket prices for the railway. "If they have to spend a higher percentage of their take-home pay on HSR, this will further burden the people and prohibit them from using the facility," he said. Echoing Tan's views, Savills (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd Executive Chairman, Christopher Boyd, said it was crucial for the railway operator to offer a special deal for commuters who travel on a daily basis, especially to and from Malaysia's federal territory of Putrajaya and Seremban (a town is Malaysia's Negeri Sembilan state). "Otherwise, they will still continue driving to work," he said. He also said the railway operator has to reassure that the ticket prices would remain stable and not increase in a year or two, so that it would encourage the people to consider using the facility as their long-term mode of travel. "But for the people who travel from KL to Singapore, I think they would pay a slightly higher price per trip because the HSR will significantly shorten the travel times," he said. On the connectivity along the stations, Tan, meanwhile, said that the government or developers should ensure the stations were integrated with other modes of transport to allow door-to-door service. "They must offer top-notch feeder connectivity, shuttle bus and taxi services at the stations to encourage more commuters," he said. He did not rule out the fact that shared-services such as Uber and GrabCar would be mushrooming in the small areas as people tend to enjoy door-to-door services now. "This will, subsequently, create employment opportunities in small towns along the railway stations, and hence, drive the country's economic growth," he added. Malaysia and Singapore inked the historic HSR agreement on July 19, 2016, signifying that in the next 10 years, travellers will be able to reach the end destination between the two cities by just 90 minutes. The line is expected to consist eight stations, namely Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Seremban, Ayer Keroh, Muar, Batu Pahat, Iskandar Puteri and Singapore. -- BERNAMA