Floods disrupt bus, train and air services to the north - Many UUM students unable to make it to Sintok, Kedah, for their convocation

Floods disrupt bus, train and air services to the north
By REENA NATHAN

Many UUM students unable to make it to Sintok, Kedah, for their convocation

PETALING JAYA: Floods in the northern states have disrupted all bus, train and air services.

Buses scheduled to run from Sungai Petani and Alor Setar to areas in the north such as Changloon, Jitra, Kodiang, Arau, Kuala Perlis and Kangar were cancelled Wednesday.

“We can only go as far as Simpang Empat, Simpang Kuala Perlis, which is four kilometres away from Kangar, and from there on, passengers will have to find their own way,” said Supervisor of Kenderaan Langkasuka Ahmad Rejap, adding that the bus services along these routes have yet to be rescheduled.

Buses have been unable to go into those areas since Monday when waters rose.

“We have had to also cancel services to Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) in Sintok, Kedah, and many were unable to make it for the UUM convocation on Tuesday,” said Ahmad.

Transnasional, the leading express bus service in Malaysia, has also cancelled its bus services from Kuala Lumpur to Kangar.

“Passengers will have to get off at Seriap and take alternate means of transport to their final destinations. We are doing all that we can,” said Transnasional Acting Head of Operations Muhammad Saiful, adding that Seriap is about eight to nine kilometres away from Kangar.

Saiful said that, at the moment, there were no passengers stranded in Seriap. He said that the other services from Kuala Lumpur to Alor Setar and Kuala Lumpur to Sungai Petani and back on schedule.

AirAsia also cancelled its Wednesday flights from KL to Alor Setar and back due to the floods.

Flights from Subang to Alor Setar and back via Firefly have also been cancelled.

Passengers could move their flight to another date or request a refund, but it will take up to one month for the money to be refunded, a Firefly spokesman said.

Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd(KTMB), had said in a statement on Tuesday that a number of its services to the north have been cancelled.