The Malayan Railway train shuttle which stops at the doorstep of Danga City Mall may be convenient for shoppers looking to avoid jams and immigration queues, but the awkward schedule is leaving some feeling rattled.
There are nine daily trips to and from the mall - five departing from Tanjong Pagar station here and four returning - which start from 5.35am and end at 10pm with irregular intervals in between. The trip costs S$3 from Singapore and RM3 (S$1.25) from Johor Baru.
SHUTTLE SCHEDULE
From Singapore:
5.35am, 7.40am, 2pm,
7.10pm, 10pm
From Danga City Mall:5.10am, 9.37am, 2.19pm
and 6.50pm
Note: The 6.50pm train
has an additional one-hour
stopover at the Johor
central station before its
journey back to Singapore.
The biggest gap is between the second train which leaves here at 7.40am and the third which departs at 2pm.
This means visitors to the mall either have to arrive at around 8.40am - one hour and 20 minutes before the mall opens - or at 2.52pm in the afternoon.
Retiree Sam Lim, 58, said: 'It's such a waste of time for us to go early and wait for the mall to open. We can't even have breakfast.
'If we go later, this means we have to go back late. They should either adjust the timings of the train or open the mall earlier.'
KTM marketing manager Mohd Nordin told LifeStyle that the current timings are 'temporary and meant to test the potential and demand for the shuttle'.
He explained that the timings were from a 78-year-old line that runs through the northern states of Malaysia to the Tanjong Pagar station here.
He added that based on feedback, they would add two more services to the schedule by next month or March.
'Timings will be chosen to coincide with the opening of the mall,' he said.
According to Danga City Mall managing director, Mr Gary Lee Seaton, there have been many groups of retirees from Singapore making the trip to the mall via the train.
They are mostly curious about the mall because of reports in the media, he said.
He added: 'They come as early as 9am and they look so lost because our shops are not open yet. I feel very bad.'
To appease the bewildered travellers, he gave them breakfast treats on the second day and allowed them to wait at the cafe outside the shopping centre.
The people who complain, he said, are usually those who take the 7.40am train from Singapore.
He said: 'We're doing our best to improve the situation. Please give us more time.'
Cheryl Tan
This article was first published in The Straits Times on Jan 11, 2009.
