I have written about my train ride in an earlier post. I like it as it is punctual, smooth, silent, clean and fast. Recently, I had the experience of travelling on both the Platinum and Gold trains. As Ikram and I had to go to KL for a couple of days, we decided to take the ETS. As it was a sudden decision due to an unexpected event, tickets were sold out even though it was a weekday (Monday). The only available tickets were on the Platinum schedule. We decided to take it. It was the first time I used my "Kad Pesara" (Pension Card). A friend informed me that I was eligible for a discount for my ticket. Thus, we bought Platinum seats for departing and Gold for returning KL-As and AS-KL. I was delighted to know that I got 50% discount for my ticket with the "Kad Pesara". We calculated the difference and it did not merit the 50%. Could it be due to GST???
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| PLATINUM - It is quite expensive. A difference of RM23 from GOLD train. The discount was much welcomed ... |
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| This was what was served as refreshment on PLATINUM ... ;-(( |
Thus, we were hungry by noon. So, off to the cafe and I thought it was like the old train where a whole coach was the cafe but it seemed that only a section of the coach was a counter for the cafe. We bought fried meehoon (RM6) and cheese sandwich (RM4.50) and ate it at our seats. It was edible and okay.
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| The fried meehoon and cheese sandwich ... |
The only difference between the two train was the refreshment served by a steward and a stewardess. The coach was the same one. The ETA (41/2 hours - give and take) was almost the same. Another difference was the number of stops made by the trains. Platinum made 5 stops while Gold made about 11 stops. I lost count after a while. Anyway, I like the stability and silence of the train. I managed to complete reading the rest of my book ... ;-)) since the night Gold train that we took (11:20pm) was brightly lit and they did not switch off the lights.
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| GOLD tickets - the discounted"kad pesara" ticket and the actual fare |
I thought the "Kad Pesara" was only for hospitalisation benefits ... the discount was quite substantial .. this would encourage me to use the ETS again ... if only I do not need transport while in KL ...
