Malaysia Rail History

Malaysia Rail History

The intercity railway network in Peninsular Malaysia consists of two main lines: The KTM West Coast Line between Singapore and Padang Besar, Perlis, on the Malaysian-Thai border, and the KTM East Coast Line between Gemas in Negeri Sembilan and Tumpat in Kelantan. There are also several branch lines – between Kuala Lumpur and Port Klang, Batu Junction and Batu Caves, Bukit Mertajam and Butterworth, Tapah Road and Teluk Intan, Kempas and Tanjung Pelepas, Kempas and Pasir Gudang, and between Pasir Mas and Rantau Panjang. The entire 1,699 km network uses 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) metre gauge tracks. The network uses ballasted setup with locally manufactured concrete sleepers.

Since the early 1980s, companies formed via international collaboration, such as Mastrak Sdn Bhd had been producing these sleepers via technology transfer. In the five years period of 1982-1987 alone, it was estimated that about 500,000 pieces of sleepers had been laid for the Kerdau-Jerantut and Sungai Yu-Tumpat lines, giving clear preference due to its advantages over wooden sleepers. This was also evident in the changes made by Sabah State Railway in 2006 for the network under their control.

The network is linked with the Thai railway network at Padang Besar and Rantau Panjang.
A total of 438 km of the network is double track and electrified. They include portions of the West Coast Line between Gemas and Ipoh and the entire Kuala Lumpur-Port Klang branch line as well as the stretch between Kuala Lumpur and Sentul – Batu Caves branch line. The double-track and electrified portions between Kuala Kubu Bharu and Seremban and the Port Klang to Kuala Lumpur branch lines are used as the commuter train services.

Double tracking and electrification of the stretch of the Batu Caves branch line between Sentul and Batu Caves are now complete, it added 7.5 km of double track and electrified sections to the network. Double tracking of the West Coast line between Ipoh and Padang Besar has started in January 2008 and expected to be completed by November 2014 and will add a further 329 km of double track to the network.

Malaysia’s national petroleum company Petronas owns a railway line which links its oil refinery complex and the nearby town of Kerteh, Terengganu, with the petrochemical complex in Gebeng, Kuantan, and Kuantan Port near Kuantan, Pahang. The line is mainly used to transport petroleum products, but it has been opened up recently for general freight transport, with operation being conducted by KTM. There have been proposals to extend the line to connect with the KTM line at Mentakab, and there are suggestions to go as far as Kuala Terengganu and Tumpat.

There is a 134 km (83 mi) railway line linking Tanjung Aru near Kota Kinabalu and Tenom in the interior of Sabah state. The line is the only railway on the island of Borneo. Besides normal passenger trains operated by the Sabah State Railway Department, the tracks are also used to for the North Borneo Railway tourist train. The line has been suffering from lack of maintenance for many years and in 2006, the Malaysian Government funded rehabilitation works for the line. A pipe dream is to have a railway line from Kota Kinabalu to Kuching through Brunei though the cost of this would mean seeking funding from Brunei.

Source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transport_in_Malaysia