Ticket rush: A traveller using a tablet to purchase tickets for the Johor Baru-Kuala Lumpur ETS, which will begin operation on Dec 12. — THOMAS YONG/The Star
JOHOR BARU: While travellers are eagerly looking forward to the start of the Johor Baru-Kuala Lumpur Electric Train Service (ETS) tomorrow, others are hoping for fewer stops.
They said the present 16 stops between Johor and Kuala Lumpur and travel time of about four hours and 20 minutes was quite long.
Frequent traveller Danny Tay, 47, said he was excited about the start of the service, but urged KTMB to relook the timing for the evening train.
“The morning train leaves at 8.40am while the evening train at 4.20pm. Most people are still at work at that time. It will be better to have a train leaving after 6pm,” said Tay, a manager with a developer in Singapore.
He was among those who waited past midnight to buy the first tickets that went on sale on Dec 9.
“I only managed to get a ticket to KL from Johor during Chinese New Year on Feb 13 at RM88. All return tickets on Feb 22 have been sold out. I hope KTM will be adding more services in the coming weeks,” he said.
Tay usually takes the plane to Kuala Lumpur to see his family if the airfare is about RM80 to RM90.
He had taken the ETS all the way to Padang Besar from Kuala Lumpur before and found the trip comfortable.
For P. Sivanathan, 32, just two train services per day were not cost-effective compared with more than 10 flights daily from Johor to Kuala Lumpur.
“I hope they will have a train every hour during peak periods, especially on weekends when the highways are always jammed,” he said, hoping for some price adjustment as the present fare of RM82 is similar to a plane ticket.
He said a usual one-way bus ticket is between RM35 and RM40.
“I hope the government will extend the 30% promotion for at least six months so that more people will try out the service,”he said, adding that presently they were only able to buy platinum class tickets while the express and gold options were not available.
As a businessman, Sivanathan does not mind paying a bit extra for the express ones with fewer stops, as he wants to reach Kuala Lumpur within three-and-a-half hours.
Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia Industry Centre of Excellence for Railway principal researcher Assoc Prof Dr Nor Aziati Abdul Hamid said she expects the ETS to become highly popular, particularly among frequent travellers between the two cities.
She is confident that the strong demand could prompt KTMB to increase the number of daily ETS trips on the route.
Nor Aziati said the ETS would provide a practical and affordable travel alternative to flights, buses and private vehicles, particularly for middle-income earners, as ticket prices are generally more reasonable than airfares.
She added that the service would be especially attractive due to its main stops at JB Sentral and KL Sentral.
“This offers greater convenience compared with air travel, which requires passengers to go through airports such as Kuala Lumpur International Airport or Senai International Airport, both of which are located some distance from the city centres,” she said.
Nor Aziati also highlighted the potential regional impact of the service, particularly for Singaporeans and foreign travellers.
“With the Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link between Bukit Chagar and Woodlands North scheduled to begin operations on Jan 1, 2027, the ETS will become another attractive option for travellers from Singapore to commute to Kuala Lumpur for business or leisure,” she said.
KTMB has marked Monday as the launch of the ETS to JB Sentral, with a special 30% discount for tickets on the KL Sentral-JB Sentral-KL Sentral route.
The promotion will run from Dec 12 to Jan 11, 2026, with 5,000 promo codes available for travellers who use the code JBBEST, subject to terms and conditions.
Tickets can be purchased via the KITS Style application, KTMB’s official website at www.ktmb.com.my or at KTMB kiosk machines.
For more information, travellers can contact the KTMB Call Centre at 03-9779 1200.
