Nice Imperial buses offer first-class travel experience
BY PATRICK LEE
Luxury ride: Four Nice Imperial buses are currently in service with 16 more expected to launch within a year.
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PETALING JAYA: The ride is nice with cocoon seats and Ogawa back-massagers, 4G WiFi and even a steward to serve the 27 passengers.
This is the Nice Imperial – Malaysia’s maiden first-class express bus service from Kuala Lumpur to Penang or Singapore and back again.
“What makes this bus different is that each person sits in an isolated cocoon, so you don’t see the other person’s head in front of you during a recline,” Konsortium Transnasional Berhad (KTB) executive director Tengku Hasmadi Tengku Hashim said.
The double-decker Nice Imperials were launched by KTB in mid-March.
Tengku Hasmadi said commuters could also book seats that placed them at a 45-degree angle towards a window if they liked to look at passing scenery.
“And if they had enough of that, each passenger could play with an Android tablet and browse through over 50 movies and 200 songs,” he added.
Tengku Hasmadi also said Nice Imperial drivers were the “cream of the cream” and had the best driving track record in the company.
Adding that the Nice Imperial was the first Perdana-class model in the country, he said that to date, other comfort-style buses resembled business-class transport.
“We felt we needed another category... We have regular members who travel on our Nice executive coaches and now they can get an upgrade,” he said.
Tengku Hasmadi said KTB was running four Nice Imperial buses, with another 16 more planned to hit the highways within a year.
Currently, the Nice Imperials ply the KL-Singapore, Singapore-KL, KL-Penang and Penang-KL routes.
The one-way fares from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur and Penang are RM141 and RM103 respectively.
Tickets can be purchased online 60 days ahead, including return trips, and with possible hotel packages. Those with Nice membership cards enjoy discounted fares, earn points and redeem them for future tickets.
Riders heading to Singapore can board the Nice Imperial at the KL Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) railway station, KL Sentral and Terminal Bersepadu Selatan.
Those heading to Penang can board the bus from Terminal Bersepadu Selatan and the KL KTM railway station.
