One day after the LRT fare hikes came into force, commuters are already feeling the pinch.

A survey carried out at the KL Sentral station showed that many commuters are dissatisfied with the increase, for it came on the heels of various other price increases following the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the abolition of subsidies this year.

Private college student Noor Farah Dina Fasha said she didn’t think the increase in LRT fares matched the service being rendered by Prasarana Malaysia, which operates the light rail transit service.

“I am from Kajang and getting to KL Sentral normally costs RM2.50, but it’s now gone up to RM3.50.

“But the service is bad. Only one counter was open while the person manning the other counter was busy playing with his handphone.

“They know it’s crowded, so they should be alert. There are also senior citizens but they just ignore them and increase the fares instead,” Noor Farah complained.

She added that she was not aware about the fare hike announcement made last month and only realised the increase when she bought her travel token.

Echoing this was medical student Nur Ellani Abdul Wahab ( photo ), who lamented that the hike affects those from the low-income group, who are the bulk of the people relying on public transport.

“The increase is quite steep for a student like me. The services they provide are still the same but the price has gone up,” Nur Ellani said.

Another medical student, Noor Fatin Amira Noor Amri, said Prasarana Malaysia should step up its services in light of the fare hike.

“I was shocked at the increase as I only found this out when I took a ride just now.

“The government should now introduce a 24-hour service, since it has increased the fares,” said the 22-year-old.

Effective yesterday, the fares for LRT and Monorail saw increases of up to 79 percent.

However, under the new fare structure, commuters are offered monthly cards dubbed ‘MyRapid Smart 30', which gives a discount of between 18 percent and 35 percent compared to cash payment.

Engineer Amiruddin Mohd Tajudin ( photo ), who uses the LRT daily to get from Taman Melati to KL Sentral, said he is now paying around 50 percent more.

‘Discount card still pricier than previous system’

Amiruddin said even though Prasarana has introduced a monthly discount card, it was still pricier than the previous fare system.

This, he said, was because the previous monthly card allowed unlimited access, while the new card only gives a discount.

“It’s really difficult and I’m really angry. I take public transport five times a week from Taman Melati to KL Sentral.

“It’s been RM2.30 all this while, but today it’s RM3.40. They can increase the price, but not too steeply. This is over 50 percent and it is burdensome,” Amiruddin said.

Universiti Teknologi Petronas student Fariz Fadzuan Fahmi ( photo ) had harsher words for the fare hike, calling it a “robbery”.

“It’s easy for the government. When they don’t have enough money, they just take from the rakyat. Even subsidies have been abolished.

“The government doesn’t have money, but we feel the brunt,” Fariz said.

Under the new LRT fare system, commuters are charged 30 sen per kilometre for the first four kilometres.

From 4.1km to 9km, the charge is 6.4 sen per km and the subsequent distance of up to 14km is 21.5 sen per km.

Between 14.1km and 19km, commuters are charged 18 sen per km and 14.4 sen for the subsequent distance of up to 24km.

Any distance beyond 24km comes at a price of 10.8 sen/km.

As for the Monorail fare structure, it is 58.8 sen per km for the first 4km and RM37.2 sen per km from 4.1km to 9km.

The increase for KTM Komuter is from 11 sen per km to 15 sen per km.