Rail Transportation in Malaysia

Malaysia’s rail service is one of the most complete and connects most major cities around the Peninsular Malaysia. There are a few types of rail services in the country which encompasses the heavy rail, light rail and monorail services respectively, each of which services a specific group of commuters. Where this is concerned, the heavy rail service usually has more coaches and goes for a longer distance while the light rail services all have fewer coaches and are usually utilized for short distance travelling in within the vicinity of the city. At the moment, the light rail services focused in Klang Valley while there are proposals for similar systems to be built in other major cities like Penang and Malacca where the latter has embarked on the construction of an Aerorail service.

The heavy rail service is operated by KTMB (Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad) which basically serves the intercity routes and destinations. It connects the major cities from KL Sentral in Kuala Lumpur to other cities like Butterworth towards the north and Johor Bahru towards the south as well as towards the east coast too. Apart from ferrying people between the cities, the KTMB service also ferries freight and cargo as well. While most of the states in Peninsular Malaysia is connected by KTMB, there is only one rail service in East Malaysia which is in Sabah. The KTMB service that connects Peninsular Malaysia extends towards the country of Singapore as well as towards the north into Thailand.

There are 2 light rail services which operates in the Klang Valley. This is where the LRT (Light Rail Transit) offers service to commute passengers in within the Klang Valley which encompasses Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya as well as other suburbs like Ampang. It is served by 2 main lines, namely the Kelana Jaya Line and Ampang Line. The former connects most places around the Petaling Jaya area from KL Sentral while the latter connects towards the south which heads out towards Maluri, Ampang and its surrounding areas.

Apart from the LRT, there is another rail service which is the KL Monorail which services commuters and the people around the Kuala Lumpur city center. This is a shorter network which carries lesser passengers but usually connects most major spots in the city. This is considered to be one of the most convenient modes of transport for tourists who would like to see the city from the top as the rail is built above the roads connecting 11 of its stations that include Bukit Bintang, Imbi and others.

The Malaysian government had recently announced that a new rail service will be constructed which will provide more space and ferry more passengers. This is known as the KVMRT or Klang Valley Mass Railway Transit which will offer a new public transportation system to the people in Kuala Lumpur and the surrounding areas. The project will start in 2012 which will then complement the current rail systems already available.