Malaysian Train Overcrowding: Management Strategies Review

This report addresses the issue of overcrowding in Malaysian trains during peak hours, identifying causative factors such as rapid workforce growth, technical issues with road transport, and government-led route extensions. It highlights the significant increase in LRT usage and the lack of demand-based rail management strategies despite their acknowledged need. The consequences of overcrowding, including delayed schedules, disease transmission, and passenger discomfort, are discussed. The report proposes infrastructural changes to enhance capacity, alterations in scheduled arrival and departure times to balance consumer demand, and modifications to alternative public transport mechanisms, such as buses, to alleviate the problem. Ultimately, the report emphasizes the urgent need for Malaysian transport authorities to implement effective management strategies to mitigate train overcrowding.

Running head: MANAGEMENT OF OVERCROWDED MALAYSIAN TRAINS
MANAGEMENT OF OVERCROWDED MALAYSIAN TRAINS
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1MANAGEMENT OF OVERCROWDED MALAYSIAN TRAINS
Passenger overcrowding causes various physiological and psychological distresses (Liu
and Wen 2016). With respect to the present problem of overcrowding in the trains of Malaysian
during peak travelling periods, the following paragraphs of the essay shed light upon the
causative factors, followed by a discussion of possible mitigation strategies.
A rapid increase in the workforce population fuelled by population explosion, the
presence of technical mishaps concerning the public transport availability by road, and the
establishment of an extension route by the government for the purpose of urban prosperity,
further leading to interchanging of trains by passengers during busy travelling periods, are some
of the major causes of Malaysian train overcrowding (Khalid et al. 2014). The usage of light
train services, popularly abbreviated as LRT, have increased vastly, pertaining to the occurrences
of overcrowding in the trains of Malaysia, at a rate of 40.5%, over the years ensuing 2006 and
2015 (Masirin et al. 2017). With respect to the presence of this alarming situation, there is hence
a requirement for the execution of managerial principles and amendments, pertaining to the
mitigation of the increasing usage of train services and the resultant overcrowding. There is
however, an absence in the implementation of such demand based rail management strategies in
Malaysia, despite acknowledgement of the same by the delegated authorities, due to lack of
present as well as past rail usage data and an absence of execution of principles highlighted only
on paper (Masyita and Nornadiah 2017). The performance and operation of trains overfilled with
passengers have been directly proportional to the occurrences of postponed arrival and departure
times, and hence, there is an urgent necessity to perform the required managerial strategies (binti
Nordin et al. 2017).
The presence of an over populated environment in train compartment increases the
incidences of infectious disease transmission, as well as the occurrences of physical harm

2MANAGEMENT OF OVERCROWDED MALAYSIAN TRAINS
amongst co-passengers and rail workforce members. The prevalence of the same is associated
with the dissemination of violent behavioral conduct, general feelings of malaise and discomfort
due to the ongoing claustrophobia and additionally, negative health implications physiologically
as well as psychologically (Preston, Pritchard and Waterson 2017). With due concern of the
presence of these highlighted factors, the implementation and execution of policies pertaining to
the management of the uncomfortable overcrowding, is of utmost importance in the trains of
Malaysia. With respect to the imbalance in passenger load and consumer demand, the primary
management strategy would pertain to conductance of infrastructural changes, in order to
enhance capacity of travelers, through addition of novel coaches and construction of new travel
routes (Dahalan et al. 2017). However, considering the financial unfeasibility of the same, an
alternative strategy would involve alterations in the scheduled arrival and departure times,
instead of burdening train timings upon a single peak passenger hour, further balancing the
consumer demand of usage of such services. Further, modification of alternative public transport
mechanisms such as buses and improved bus routes, followed by adequate crowd management
strategies aiming to direct passengers through various routes, are some of the additional
procedures possible for implementation in the train services of Malaysia (Kim et al. 2015).
Hence, to conclude, concerning the alarming rate of overcrowding, there is a need to
mitigate the same by the transport authorities of Malaysia.

3MANAGEMENT OF OVERCROWDED MALAYSIAN TRAINS
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