KTMB cannot avoid rising fares as increasing service frequency will cost more, said its chairperson Nawawi Ahmad.

The new fares are expected to be announced tomorrow by the Land Transport Commission, Bernama reported today.

KTM Komuter proposes to raise frequency to every 7.5 minutes from the current every 15 to 30 minutes, Nawawi said.

“Besides that, costs like wages, electricity, maintenance and other costs go up every year but fares have not gone up for years,”

He said this following a Star report that KTM Komuter fares will raise by up to 15 sen per kilometre starting Dec 2, compared to 11 sen per kilometre today.

However, Nawawi, who is Langkawi MP, declined to confirm the rates.

He also earlier told The Malay Mail Online that KTMB had only appealed to Spad for fare hike approval, and the decision has yet to be made.

Spad chairperson Hamid Albar last month announced that the cabinet has approved fare hikes for LRT, but has yet to announce the new fares.

Toll rates for 15 Klang Valley highways were raised by up to 100 percent last month.

The government said it hoped toll rate hikes would encourage public transport use.