GOMBAK: The government has challenged the developers of the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) to start passenger services from Gombak to Kota Baru by December, right in time for the year-end holidays.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke said this would be earlier than the previously targeted January 2027 date, but a good time to launch when travel demand is heightened.
“The Transport Ministry is targeting early December, which coincides with the year-end school and public holiday period,” said Loke at ECRL’s Gombak station here yesterday to mark the arrival of a specialised railway inspection train as well as the start of System Integration Testing (SIT) that will be followed by the Fault-Free Run (FFR).
All these tests are mandated under the Land Public Transport Act, with the tests coming under the supervision of the Land Public Transport Agency (Apad, formerly known as the Land Public Transport Commission).
In a FFR, trains run on actual tracks (not test tracks) without passengers to prove system stability, reliability and safety before commercial services begin.
Each trainset – including freight trains – must log at least 5,000km without showing any significant fault, with the bar set at 8,000km for the first train tested.
Any fault or anomaly will reset the odometer back to zero before the FFR resumes, until the train hits the required mileage error-free.
Describing existing FFR requirements as “rigid”, Loke said the FFR normally takes several months, but the government is exploring ways to speed up the process, and added that a more relaxed testing regime can be considered in this case as “some form of testing” on the trains were done in China before delivery to Malaysia.
“We want to facilitate the process without compromising safety,” he said.
A vital phase, the system integration testing will determine how well key railway systems that cover both hardware and software, including signalling, communications, power supply, track and the overhead contact system, work seamlessly as a whole.
The operator needs to prove that all hardware and software components will synchronise reliably and safely under operational scenarios before actually carrying passengers.
ECRL passenger trains can hit sustained speeds of 160kph along the 665km alignment spanning Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and Selangor, and will be the fastest train to ever run in Malaysia when it comes to average operating speeds.
In his speech, Loke reassured the public that safety will not be compromised under the proposed relaxation of the testing regime, in particular, for the FFR.
“We will not take any risks. If everything goes smoothly, we are confident that ECRL operations can start as early as December this year,” he said at the event where he asked project owner Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd (MRL) and its contractor China Communications Construction-ECRL to do their best to make it a reality.
The alignment connecting Kota Baru to Gombak was 95.08% complete as of July, with this first phase previously scheduled for completion in December.
The second phase, stretching from Gombak to Port Klang, is expected to be completed by December 2027, with full commercial operations targeted for January 2028.
Loke added that staff preparation was well underway, with recruitment and training starting two years ago, including overseas training in China.
The service is expected to cut travel time between Gombak and KotaSAS in Pahang to about 1.5 hours, compared to around three hours by road.
Meanwhile, the Gombak–Kuala Terengganu leg will take about three hours, while non-stop travel from Gombak to Kota Baru can be completed in roughly four hours.
Also unveiled at the event were the new uniforms for onboard and station personnel.
When met after the event, MRL chief executive Datuk Seri Darwis Abdul Razak said an announcement on the fare structure would be made “soon”, once the matter is tabled to the Cabinet.
