TRANSIT notes the following article which shares some positive news about train service in the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia (and the east coast and Sabah as well, when you think about it).
Electric trains for KTMB routes in west coast of peninsula Malaysia in 5 years (NST)
2010/08/31Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd (KTMB) will introduce electric trains for its intercity service for routes in the west coast of the peninsula in five years.
Its general manager (Intercity service), Mohd Zain Mat Taha, said the service would be introduced for the Seremban-Gemas and Ipoh-Padang Besar routes.
“The electric trains will replace the locomotive coaches,” he told reporters at a Merdeka eve celebration organised by the KTMB Intercity service.
However, he said the locomotive coaches would still be used for its east coast route as the railway tracks there had yet to have electric cables.
The programme for the Merdeka eve celebration involved the participation of more than 47 students and teachers from Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Bandar Sri Damansara, members of the media and KTMB staff. – Bernama
TRANSIT Says:
Hot on the heels of our recent posting, Electric Trains to Reduce Travel Time, TRANSIT notes the above article which shows that the government is really trying to make up for lost time. With aggressive expansion plans, ETS Sdn. Bhd. will offer full-electric services on the west coast of Malaysia from Johor all the way to Alor Setar and Kangar (and some say Padang Besar, who knows).
The additional electric trains will augment the existing intercity train fleet, which will be used for journeys to the east coast rail. It is also possible that some of the trains may find themselves in Sabah when they become surplus to the west coast railway.
TRANSIT is pleased to note the announcement as we are looking forward to improved KTM intercity service, especially on the KL-Butterworth route (which is a very important route for Malaysian travelers). We are also looking forward to the possibility of Komuter service in the north (around Butterworth) and the south (around Johor Bahru) as soon as the respective electrification and double tracking projects are complete.
What are your thoughts on the potential for all-electric intercity service on west-coast rail services?
Transit Malaysia 
2 replies on “KTM Update: Electric trains on west coast routes in 5 years!”
In terms of time saved, I find it not that of a real savings.
I think the concern would be at the stations and how it is connected to nearby biz/residential areas. Say for example Ipoh, Seremban.. the local transport there should be efficient to get people wanting to later on use the ETS
@lanwm
Thank you for the feedback.
Regards, moaz for TRANSIT