TRANSIT took note of this article today, in the Malay Mail, which announces that KTMB will receive 38 units of Tokyo Metro trains for free (paying for modification costs) – a very interesting announcement for KTMB’s 125th anniversary!
These trains are expected to arrive in 2012 and will help supplement KTMB’s electric fleet. However, we do not know at this time which service (Komuter or ETS) these trains will be assigned to when they are put into service.
PETALING JAYA: The Kuala Lumpur railway service will get a much-needed boost in the form of 228 used Tokyo Metro of Japan car sets — free of charge.
TRANSIT: As we said before, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Also, the detail is slightly inaccurate – there are 38 trains formed of 6-carriages each, not 2008 trains.
The gift is the culmination of efforts by Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat who had just concluded discussions with Tokyo Metro to secure the 38×6 used car sets, which are in good operational condition, and have a lifespan of no less than 20 years.
It was learnt that the cars , which still have an average of 20 good years left for local use, would be delivered by 2012.
The sets had been used by Tokyo Metro in their subway lines (tubes), and some modifications may be carried out to allow the cars to be used in Malaysia.
Tokyo Metro operates a network of nine subway lines in the heart of Tokyo, with its network forming a tight mesh throughout the three central wards of Chiyoda, Chuo and Minato; and the surrounding Shinjuku, Shibuya, Ikebukuro and Ueno areas.
Upon delivery, the sets are expected to ease the pressure off the local rail system persistently bogged down by a range of issues that had affected the service’s reliability.
In an interview with The Malay Mail recently, KTMB president Dr Aminuddin Adnan had admitted that reliability was an issue, forcing KTMB to take several measures to improve the capacity and reliability of train services.
It had set itself a deadline of two years to give commuters the best service possible at its optimum capacity level in line with the National Key Result Area (NKRA) target for urban public transport to improve the network.
Dr Aminuddin had said KTMB was working on completely overhauling its trains as well as the wiring systems and other services to improve current services.
KTMB are also working on refurbishing 15 old electric multiple unit (EMU) trains, which it aims to put back into service in stages by March next year. Once completed, the number of trains available will be increased from 28 trains to 43 by next year.
The EMUs have been plagued with problems caused by the closure of the two companies that supplied the trains.This had made it difficult to find spare-parts for the trains.
Dr Aminuddin had also said that KTMB had ordered 38 six car-trains at a cost of RM2 billion, which are expected to arrive in mid-2012.
With the increase in number of trains available, KTMB hopes to accomplish a passenger waiting time of between 10 and 20 minutes.
TRANSIT Says
The Malay Mail seems to have gotten the numbers wrong, as it is actually 38 trains with 6-carriages each.
But it is good news for KTM – if the trains work well then they will be tripling the fleet size in a short time – with the refurbished trains + Tokyo Metro trains + China trains.
But of course, one has to ask if these trains are different from the JR trains mentioned last month.
8 replies on “KTM Update: More ‘free’ trains from Japan?”
GOOD NEWS !!!! Then again………2012.
Kita memerlukan tren sekarang……sekarang….. bukan 2012. Tren komuter sekarang sudah mula meragam…..perjalanan dibatalkan…. tunda……
Komuter yang diperbaiki siap 2012…..Komuter baru yang dipesan pun dijangka sampai 2012….. Mengapa tiba2 semuanya 2012….. sebab nak dekat pilihanraya ke……
New transport minister……please HELP la……Contoh Bawa 4 set daripada tren tersebut nya setidaknya untuk digunakan by September 2010…… 4 set lagi lagi januari 1 2011 and so on………
Kalau kita boleh bazirkan wang untuk macam2 projek yang gagal Y not bayar lebih supaya modification terhadap tren percuma ini boleh dibuat dengan segera.
It is a very good news, indeed. But the ministry has to ensure that they will be able to get spare parts in the future. Don’t repeat the same mistake. Also, what is the status of the other 38 train sets bought from China? Is the quality assured?
Hi Saktish
Thanks for the comments.
In most cases, “quality assurance” now means consistent, long-term supply of spares & parts & training & maintenance support.
It doesn’t really matter who builds (or built) the trains, but rather, how fast they can build them and how much after-sales support they can provide.
Regards, Moaz for TRANSIT
Surprisingly China-made Dalian locomotives which were once a bunch of bad apples among KTMB fleet for having major problem in less than few months after delivery now work flawlessly and had proven their reliability of which already outshined German-made Blue Tiger.
The point is; no matter what items we got whether from Chinese, Uganda, Russian, Europe or US, as long as we maintain them, then these will take care of us back in return.
but….china product……….. u tengok la bas rapid kl yang dibuat di china….apa sudah jadi….sana tanggal…sana hilang….. baru 5 tahun ….macam bas sudah berumur 25 tahun……nak speed pun tak larat…..
Tapi sekarang….why everything china…. jambatan from china…..keretapi pun from china….bas pun china…. Adakah now malaysia tempat lambakan barangan china……. macam itu kedai RM2…. very cheap unfortunately NO QUALITY…..
I can’t help but agree with Razib… Why is everything at 2012?
So we just have to keep suffering until 2012? And what’s the point of having 60+ EMUs but the 25KVA line keeps tripping.
KTM should look into fixing their power failure issue while they wait for the new train sets to arrive… otherwise they’ll say “too many trains, power lines can’t keep up!@#@”
I hope these news aren’t just “wayang kulit” for the next GE…
[…] Either way, we at TRANSIT appreciate the call for further investigation of the purchase of the 38 units of KTM trains by the PAC. We would also like to see further investigation into the claims by former Minister of Transport Ong Tee Keat that he had secured the transfer of intercity coaches from Japan Rail as well as 38 units of used Tokyo Metro trains for KTMB – all for “free”. […]
Transit Malaysia 
8 replies on “KTM Update: More ‘free’ trains from Japan?”
GOOD NEWS !!!! Then again………2012.
Kita memerlukan tren sekarang……sekarang….. bukan 2012. Tren komuter sekarang sudah mula meragam…..perjalanan dibatalkan…. tunda……
Komuter yang diperbaiki siap 2012…..Komuter baru yang dipesan pun dijangka sampai 2012….. Mengapa tiba2 semuanya 2012….. sebab nak dekat pilihanraya ke……
New transport minister……please HELP la……Contoh Bawa 4 set daripada tren tersebut nya setidaknya untuk digunakan by September 2010…… 4 set lagi lagi januari 1 2011 and so on………
Kalau kita boleh bazirkan wang untuk macam2 projek yang gagal Y not bayar lebih supaya modification terhadap tren percuma ini boleh dibuat dengan segera.
It is a very good news, indeed. But the ministry has to ensure that they will be able to get spare parts in the future. Don’t repeat the same mistake. Also, what is the status of the other 38 train sets bought from China? Is the quality assured?
Hi Saktish
Thanks for the comments.
In most cases, “quality assurance” now means consistent, long-term supply of spares & parts & training & maintenance support.
It doesn’t really matter who builds (or built) the trains, but rather, how fast they can build them and how much after-sales support they can provide.
Regards, Moaz for TRANSIT
Surprisingly China-made Dalian locomotives which were once a bunch of bad apples among KTMB fleet for having major problem in less than few months after delivery now work flawlessly and had proven their reliability of which already outshined German-made Blue Tiger.
The point is; no matter what items we got whether from Chinese, Uganda, Russian, Europe or US, as long as we maintain them, then these will take care of us back in return.
lol I bet they got us the really old ones
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Metro_01_series
but the figures here seems interesting…
but….china product……….. u tengok la bas rapid kl yang dibuat di china….apa sudah jadi….sana tanggal…sana hilang….. baru 5 tahun ….macam bas sudah berumur 25 tahun……nak speed pun tak larat…..
Tapi sekarang….why everything china…. jambatan from china…..keretapi pun from china….bas pun china…. Adakah now malaysia tempat lambakan barangan china……. macam itu kedai RM2…. very cheap unfortunately NO QUALITY…..
I can’t help but agree with Razib… Why is everything at 2012?
So we just have to keep suffering until 2012? And what’s the point of having 60+ EMUs but the 25KVA line keeps tripping.
KTM should look into fixing their power failure issue while they wait for the new train sets to arrive… otherwise they’ll say “too many trains, power lines can’t keep up!@#@”
I hope these news aren’t just “wayang kulit” for the next GE…
[…] Either way, we at TRANSIT appreciate the call for further investigation of the purchase of the 38 units of KTM trains by the PAC. We would also like to see further investigation into the claims by former Minister of Transport Ong Tee Keat that he had secured the transfer of intercity coaches from Japan Rail as well as 38 units of used Tokyo Metro trains for KTMB – all for “free”. […]