GE15: TBS flooded with travellers heading home to vote

KUALA LUMPUR: With less than 24 hours left till polling day, Kuala Lumpur's main public transport hub, Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS) here has been flooded with travellers eager to make it home to vote for the 15th general election (GE15) tomorrow.

There were long queues at ticket counters, along with travellers sitting on the floor waiting for their buses due to the lack of seats to accommodate their high numbers.

TBS managing director Datuk Roslan Sahriff said they expected over 25,000 passengers to depart from the terminal today on over 1,000 buses to various destinations in the East Coast, as well as the north and south regions, adding that the peak period was between 5 pm and 10 pm.

"I think there has been more tickets sold compared to Hari Raya Aidilfitri, if I were to make a guess, the last time we sold this many tickets was during Raya 2019, as we were hit by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021," he added.

As many as 20 companies had prepared additional buses to meet last minute demand.

Badrul Amin Mohd Ramizu, 25, a traveller waiting to go back to Kuala Lipis, Pahang to vote, shared that he had travelled here from Penang to return home together with his younger sibling.

He smiled as he explained why he was wearing a t-shirt with the logo of the political party he supported, saying that he knew the terminal had a lot of foot traffic, so he wore the t-shirt with the intention of promoting the party.

First-time voter, Alis Nur An-Nis'sa Samsul Bahari, shared that she had bought her ticket back to Terengganu a month earlier, and it had been the last ticket available online at that time.

Meanwhile, travellers began pouring into the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang at around 10.30 am as many had chosen to fly during midday. Batik Air and Firefly, two airlines offering flights out of the airport, had opened more counters to handle passenger check-ins, besides encouraging the use of kiosk machines.

A Firefly spokesman shared with Bernama that the airline had sent reminders to travellers to check in earlier to avoid congestion at the airport.

Contractor Fad Mus, 42, said he was willing to take an earlier flight this morning from Johor Bahru, Johor to transit at the airport before continuing on to Kota Bahru, Kelantan in order to vote there tomorrow.

"I bought my ticket at the end of last month as I didn't want to have a headache being stuck in traffic if I drove. This election is important because there are too many parties and coalitions contesting, so I want to do my part to help form a government," he added.

-- BERNAMA