KUALA LUMPUR: KTM Bhd (KTMB) is on track to turn around its fortunes, says its newly-minted CEO, Datuk Azlan Shah Al Bakri.
The matter was communicated to The Star during a press briefing here yesterday, where he unveiled his report card for the first six months of the year.
Before helming KTMB from Jan 12 this year, Azlan Shah was the director-general of the Land Public Transport Agency (Apad) for six years, with his roots stretching back further to the now-disbanded Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD).
“No doubt, the financial numbers for 2025 are far from beautiful, but we are working to turn things around,” he said after unveiling some key numbers that provide a glimmer of hope for the mostly loss-making corporation.
At the outset, ridership for the popular ETS service – which now runs all the way from Padang Besar to Johor Baru – is up 55%, from two million passengers last year to 3.1 million this year.
However, the Komuter service suffered a slight drop of 4%, from 8.2 million last year to eight million this year.
Viewed as a whole, the combined ridership across all services rose from 12.2 million to 13.2 million, resulting in a revenue increase from RM206mil to RM294mil.
Azlan Shah said KTMB has to grapple with a host of factors, such as recurring cable thefts along its alignment, an issue that he said is serious as now even foreigners are entering the fray, which previously only involved locals.
Other factors include inclement weather and third-party-related disruptions.
The ongoing work to rehabilitate the tracks that are part of the Klang Valley Double Track Phase 2 (from Salak Selatan to Seremban) is also a major cause of disruptions to the schedule of southbound services.
However, the government is implementing measures to speed up completion ahead of its initially targeted 2029 finish date, he said.
He added that should this obstacle be overcome, the southern ETS service can complete its journey from KL Sentral to JB Sentral under four hours.
This would be a significant improvement from the current journey time, which can be as long as 4.5 hours, which does not offer any time savings when compared to a road journey.
For immediate service improvements, Azlan Shah said KTMB is obtaining new rolling stock for its Komuter service, with the first of the 12 new Komuter sets already here and awaiting testing by the regulator.
Other measures to improve its financial sustainability include a focus on more non-fare-related income streams, such as charter trains, improving cargo connectivity to Thailand all the way to China, and greater digitalisation through its subsidiary Tenang Capital Bhd (formerly KTM Logistics Sdn Bhd).
“We are working towards resolving many of the legacy issues inherited over the years, and will present another report card six months down the road,” said Azlan Shah.
At press time, KTMB has yet to post up its latest directors’ report and financial statement, with only the version dated up to Dec 31, 2024, available on its website.
