Hundreds stranded for hours at TBS

KUALA LUMPUR: Hundreds of passengers who were returning home from their holidays were left stranded at the Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS) in Bandar Tasik Selatan here, some for over eight hours.
According to some of the passengers, their buses either came many hours behind schedule, or did not arrive at all, forcing terminal staff to place stranded passengers on whichever other buses that were vacant.
One passenger, who wished to be known as Retna, 40, said staff at the terminal had claimed that the delays were due to traffic congestion on major highways, with many returning home after the long Chinese New Year break.
She however said some passengers, including her, had waited since the afternoon until late night, with some of them - especially foreigners - asked to pay extra for a new bus, which they declined.
Retna had originally booked a 2.45pm ticket from TBS to Skudai, Johor together with her 8-year-old son.
"At first, the staff claimed it was because of the traffic, then they said their bus broke down.
"They said they would provide another bus for us, but then they just moved us a few at a time onto other buses that were travelling to the same location. It's already over 10pm and I'm still here," she told theSun tonight.
According to Retna, the terminal staff gave priority to those travelling to Singapore, and those who were more vocal and causing a commotion, while others like her, were made to wait.
Another passenger, an electronics student who only wanted to be known as Nanie, 24, said she had waited at the terminal for close to four hours for her bus to Batu Pahat, Johor.
"My bus was supposed to leave at 7.30pm, but it has yet to arrive. We need to keep asking the staff for updates.
"The biggest problem I see is when they do announce the arrival of certain buses, some of the passengers were not around, maybe because they waited too long and had went somewhere else for dinner perhaps," she said.
Retna finally boarded her bus around 10.45pm while Nanie was still at the terminal as of 11pm. Other passengers also vented their frustrations on social media over the massive delays at TBS.