KTM ETS

Electric Train Service (ETS)
KTM Class 93 leaving Pulau Sebang/Tampin railway station
Overview
Native name	Perkhidmatan Keretapi Elektrik
Type	Inter-city rail
Locale	Padang Besar - Butterworth - Ipoh - Kuala Lumpur - Gemas
Stations	44
Daily ridership	5,641 (2015)
Ridership	2.059 million (2015)[1] ( 21.6%)
Website	ktmb.com.my
Operation
Opened	August 2010
Owner	KTM
Operator(s)	KTM Intercity Division
Conduction system	With driver
Rolling stock	5 six-car trainset of KTM Class 91 10 six-car trainset of KTM Class 93
Technical
Line length	755 km
Track gauge	1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) metre gauge
Operating speed	140 km/h (87 mph)

KTM ETS route network
Legend
toward Bangkok Hua Lamphong Hat Yai Junction Khlong Ngae Padang Besar (Thai) Thailand Malaysia international border Padang Besar extension to Hat Yai by 2020 Bukit Ketri Arau Perlis Kedah state border Kodiang Anak Bukit Alor Setar Kobah Gurun Sungai Petani Kedah Penang state border Tasek Gelugor Butterworth Perai River Swing Bridge Bukit Tengah Bukit Mertajam Bukit Mertajam junction Simpang Ampat Nibong Tebal Penang Perak state border Parit Buntar Bagan Serai Kamunting Taiping Larut Tunnel Bukit Berapit Tunnel Padang Rengas Kuala Kangsar Sungai Siput Tasek Ipoh Batu Gajah Kampar Tapah Road Sungkai Slim River Behrang Tanjung Malim Perak Selangor state border Kuala Kubu Bharu Batang Kali Rawang Sungai Buloh Selangor Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur state border Kepong Sentral to Batu Caves Kuala Lumpur KL Sentral to Port Klang Bandar Tasik Selatan Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur Selangor state border Kajang Bangi Selangor Negeri Sembilan state border Nilai Seremban Senawang Sungai Gadut Rembau Negeri Sembilan Malacca state border Pulau Sebang/Tampin Batang Melaka Malacca Negeri Sembilan state border to Tumpat Gemas Negeri Sembilan Johor state border to Johor Bahru Sentral

Interior of KTM Class 91.

Interior of KTM Class 93.

The KTM ETS, commercially known as ETS which stands for "Electric Train Service", is an inter-city rail service operated by Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad utilizing electric multiple units. The KTM ETS is the second electric train service to be operated by the Malaysian railway company, after the KTM Komuter service.

It is the fastest metre gauge train service in Malaysia that currently operates along the electrified and double-tracked stretch of the West Coast Line between Gemas and Padang Besar on the Malaysia-Thai border by the Malaysian national railway operator, Keretapi Tanah Melayu.

The trains travel up to 140 km/h (87 mph) on electrified metre gauge rail line which can be considered as higher speed rail (HrSR) based on passenger rail terminology instead of high speed rail (HSR). The speed is similar to that of the Kamome Express and Sonic Express in Japan, the Taroko Express and Puyuma Express in Taiwan, and the Tilt Train service in Australia.

However these services use the 1,067mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge. In view of this, there is high possibility KTM ETS service is the only one inter-city rail line recorded in the world using 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) metre gauge at maximum speed of 140 km/h.

The rail service is currently operated by KTM Intercity Division. It was previously operated by ETS Sendirian Berhad, a fully owned subsidiary of Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad.

Background

It was introduced by Keretapi Tanah Melayu on 12 August 2010 following the completion of the electrification and double-tracking of the Rawang to Ipoh stretch of the West Coast Line of Peninsular Malaysia. The service was the progressively extended to other sections of the West Coast Line when subsequent electrification and double-tracking works were completed.

Train services

Launched in August 2010, the service originally operated between Ipoh and Seremban but the KL Sentral-Seremban sector was taken out of service in October 2012.^[2]

The service was extended from Ipoh to Padang Besar via Butterworth, the mainland town opposite Penang, with the introduction of the ETS Transit on 10 July 2015, with stops at 24 stations. At the inception of service, only one train service in both directions were introduced. On the following day on 11 July 2015, the ETS Express between KL Sentral and Padang Besar, via Butterworth was introduced, with stops at 15 stations. Again, only one service for both directions were introduced.^[3]

Subsequently, on 1 September 2015, an addition service between KL Sentral and Butterworth was introduced,^[4] and on 10 October 2015, this service was extended southwards from KL Sentral to Gemas, together with the introduction of a new service between Padang Besar and Gemas.^[5] The extension of the KTM ETS service to Gemas utilizes the electrified double-track between Seremban and Gemas which was completed in 2014.

Also on 10 October 2015, a new service was launched between Butterworth and Padang Besar in addition to existing services but this service was subsequently reduced in frequency with the launching of the KTM Komuter Northern Sector.

There have been several revisions of timetables and services since then as more trains became available. The Platinum, Gold and Silver service classes were reintroduced while the terms "ETS Ekspres" and "ETS Transit" are no longer used.

The following train service numbering system has been adopted for the KTM ETS:

• EG920x, EG921x and EG922x for Gold Services departing from or ending at Padang Besar, except for EG9201/EG9202 between Butterworth and Gemas, EG9216 from Seremban to Butterworth, and EG9217 from Butterworth to Ipoh.
• EP921x for Platinum Services departing from or terminating at Padang Besar
• EG923x and EG924x for Gold Services departing from or terminating at Butterworth
• EP923x and EP924x for Platinum Services departing from or terminating at Butterworth
• EG93xx for Gold Services between KL Sentral and Ipoh
• ES94xx for Silver Services between KL Sentral and Ipoh
• EG95xx for services between Ipoh and Padang Besar

KL Sentral - Ipoh

The KL Sentral-Ipoh ETS service was the first to be launched in August 2010 with the completion of the Rawang-Ipoh Electrification and Double-Tracking Project. The service initially included the sector between KL Sentral and Seremban but was discontinued in October 2012.

Trains operating on this section are currently classed as either ETS Gold with service numbers EG93xx, or ETS Silver with service numbers EG94xx. ETS Gold trains take 2 hours and 20 minutes between KL Sentral and Ipoh, stopping at 10 stations (not including starting station), while ETS Silver trains take 2 hours 30 minutes with stops at 14 stations (again, not including starting station).

Currently, there are 5 ETS Gold from KL Sentral to Ipoh and 6 ETS Gold services on the return Ipoh to KL Sentral route. As for the ETS Silver services, there are 2 for the KL Sentral to Ipoh run, and 1 on the return Ipoh to KL Sentral run.^[6]

Prior to October 2012, ETS Gold trains did not stop at Tapah Road and Sungkai, taking 2 hours 15 minutes. As of 2014, the Gold service stopped at the two stations but no longer stopped at the Sungai Buloh railway station, Kuala Kubu Bharu railway station and Behrang railway station. A platinum service was also in operation which travelled non-stop from Kuala Lumpur to Ipoh in 1 hour 58 minutes, but was removed with the new timetable rescheduling.

The EG92xx services which run between Butterworth and KL Sentral, and between Padang Besar and Gemas which serve both Ipoh and KL Sentral provide the fastest services between Ipoh and KL Sentral. The fastest are the EG9231/EG9232 and EG9246/EG9247 ETS platinum services which take about 2 hours' journey time between Ipoh and KL Sentral with just one stop at Kuala Lumpur station.

Ipoh - Butterworth - Padang Besar

Butterworth-bound ETS Ekspres train from Padang Besar at Bukit Mertajam station on 6 August 2015.

The service between Ipoh and Padang Besar via Butterworth was the second KTM ETS service to be launched by Keretapi Tanah Melayu. It began operating on 10 July 2015, one day before the service between KL Sentral and Padang Besar.^[7] The service was originally branded as the ETS Transit.

Train on the Ipoh-Butterworth-Padang Besar sector have numbers EG95xx.

At the time of launch, only one ETS Transit was available for each direction between Ipoh and Padang Besar, with service provided by one train set. On 10 October 2015, an additional service between Butterworth and Padang Besar began operating.

When launched on 10 July 2015, the one-way journey took between 4 hours 15 minutes and 4 hours 50 minutes with stops at all 23 stations between Ipoh and Padang Besar, including twice at Bukit Mertajam and Bukit Tengah on the Bukit Mertajam-Butterworth branch line. However, a new schedule on 1 September 2015 saw the Simpang Ampat and Bukit Tengah stations being skipped.

On 1 January 2016, the service between Butterworth and Padang Besar (EG 9501 and EG 9502) were scrapped with the introduction of the KTM Komuter Northern Sector run along this section.^[8] The remaining Ipoh-Padang Besar service (EG 9500 and 9603) were also reduced to running between Mondays and Thursdays.

Gemas - KL Sentral - Ipoh - Butterworth - Padang Besar

The KTM Class 93 ETS train No 203 leaving Pulau Sebang/Tampin heading towards Gemas at 1435 on 1 November 2015.

A KTM ETS Class 91 at Butterworth just before departing for KL Sentral at 1738 on 6 August 2015.

The third phase of the KTM ETS began operating between KL Sentral and Padang Besar when it was launched on 11 July 2015, one day after the Ipoh-Padang Besar service.^[9]

When launched, it was called the ETS Ekspres service, and only one trip a day was put on due to the limied availability of rolling stock. The one-way journey took between 5 hours 15 minutes and 5 hours 30 minutes with stopped at 14 stations, including twice at Bukit Mertajam due to the station being on the Bukit Mertajam-Butterworth branch line.

On 1 September 2015, an additional service for each direction between KL Sentral and Butterworth was launched. This service made more stops between KL Sentral and Ipoh, and one additional stop at Kamunting between Ipoh and Butterworth, compared to the earlier KL Sentral-Padang Besar service.^[10]

The fourth phase of expansion for the KTM ETS took place on 10 October 2015 when the service was extended southwards from KL Sentral to Gemas. This saw the KTM ETS service returning to Seremban after being discontinued in 2012.

The Gemas-Padang Besar run skips the Bukit Mertajam-Butterworth branch completely, and proceeds straight from Nibong Tebal to Sungai Petani (and vice versa) via the third side of the triangular Bukit Mertajam Junction, which was constructed as part the Ipoh-Padang Besar Electrification and Double-Tracking Project.

Besides the new Gemas-Padang Besar service, the previous timetable was also revamped and on the same day, the KL Sentral-Butterworth (EG9205/EG9206) service was extended southwards to Gemas and given new service numbers.

ETS trains operating between Gemas and Padang Besar bear train service numbers EG92xx.

Rolling stock

First Generation

Five KTM Class 91 train sets, each comprising six cars, were purchased by Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad for $67 million (USD). The train sets were designed by Marubeni Corporation and jointly built by Hyundai Rotem of Korea and Mitsubishi Electric of Japan.^[11] The maximum operational speed of the ETS fleet is 140 km/h but is designed to travel up to 160 km/h.^[12] The total length of each train set is 138 m and weighs 231.8 tons. Each carriage is 22.95 m long, 2.75 m wide and 4 m high.^[13] Each train set has a passenger seating capacity of 350 and includes on-board facilities including toilets, a buffet car, power sockets per two seats and two LED Televisions per car.

Second Generation

Ten KTM Class 93 train sets, are in the process of being commissioned to expand ETS service.

The rolling stock were to have been put into operation for the launch of the ETS Ekspres service between KL Sentral and Padang Besar, and the ETS Transit service between Ipoh and Padang Besar. However, reports of problems during the testing and commissioning of the train sets had resulted in the Malaysian land public transport regulator, SPAD, not approving the trains for use in time for the launch of the two services on 10 July 2015 and 11 July 2015.^[14]

As a result, two KTM Class 91 train sets were used for some time, one for the ETS Ekspres, and the other for the ETS Transit, allowing for just one trip for each direction for both services.

The first four KTM Class 93 sets went into service mainly on the ETS Ekspres route on 10 October 2015

Gallery

• 
  KTM Class 91 at Ipoh.
• 
  Interior of KTM Class 91
• 
  New rolling stock of KTM Class 93 ETS 201.

See also

• Keretapi Tanah Melayu
  • KTM Intercity
    • KTM West Coast Line
    • KTM East Coast Line
  • KTM Komuter
    • Seremban Line
    • Port Klang Line
    • Northern Sector
    • Southern Sector
• Rail transport in Malaysia
• Public transport in Kuala Lumpur

References

Rail transport in Malaysia
Greater KL / Klang Valley Integrated Rail Transit	Commuter rail Airport rail link  6  KLIA Ekspres  7  KLIA Transit  1  Seremban Line  2  Port Klang Line Rapid transit Light rail transit  3  Ampang Line  4  Sri Petaling Line Light rapid transit  5  Kelana Jaya Line People mover  8  KL Monorail
Inter-city rail	Peninsular Malaysia KTM ETS KTM East Coast Line KTM West Coast Line SRT International Express Eastern and Oriental Express East Malaysia SSR Tanjung Aru-Tenom Main Line SSR North Borneo Railway Tour Line
Others	KLIA Aerotrain Penang Hill Railway KTM Komuter Northern Sector  1  Padang Rengas  2  Padang Besar Kerteh-Kuantan Port Railway Line
Future Lines	Under Construction  9  SBK Line  10  Skypark Line  11  Bandar Utama-Klang Line  12  SSP Line Proposed  13  Circle Line Kuala Lumpur-Singapore HSR RTS Link Kota Kinabalu–Sandakan–Tawau Line Sarawak Railway Line East Coast Rail Line Suspended Putrajaya Monorail Penang Monorail LRT Penang Kota Kinabalu Monorail LRT Kota Kinabalu Melaka Aerorail Johor Bahru RTS
Defunct Lines	Sunway Monorail Malacca Monorail Genting Monorail
Owner & Operator	Current Express Rail Link (ERL) Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) Mass Rapid Transit Corporation MyHSR Corporation Prasarana Malaysia & Rapid Rail Sabah State Railway (SSR) Defunct Federated Malay States Railways Malayan Railway Administration North Borneo Railway
Automated fare collection	Integrated Cashless Payment System (ICPS) Stored-value card Touch 'n Go MyRapid Card Komuter Link Card Debit card MyDebit Card
Commissions	Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD)
Rolling Stock	Adtranz-Walkers LRV Scomi SUTRA EMU Siemens Desiro ET 425 M Siemens Inspiro SBK EMU Bombardier Innovia Metro ART 200 Bombardier Innovia APM 100 Jenbacher Class 81 EMU Union Carriage & Wagon Class 82 EMU Hyundai Rotem Class 83 EMU Hyundai Rotem Class 91 EMU CSR Zhuzhou Class 92 EMU CSR Zhuzhou Class 93 EMU Hyundai Rotem SSP EMU MTrans ALWEG EMU CNR Changchun ERL Equatorial EMU Doppelmayr Garaventa 100-FUL Penang Hill
Depots	Current Ampang Batu Gajah Bukit Tengah Brickfields Rawang Salak Tinggi Sentul Seremban Subang Tanjung Aru KLIA MAHB OMSF Under construction Johan Setia Kajang Kuala Sungai Baru Serdang Sungai Buloh

Urban Rail Transit in Southeast Asia
Indonesia	Jabodetabek Commuter Line Jakarta Kota-Bogor Jatinegara-Bogor Tanah Abang-Maja Jakarta Kota-Bekasi Duri-Tangerang Jakarta Kota-Tanjung Priok Surabaya Commuter Line Jakarta MRT  M1   M2  Jakarta LRT  L1   L2   L3  Palembang LRT Bandung LRT Surabaya LRT Kualanamu Railink Soekarno-Hatta Raillink Halim Perdanakusuma Raillink Minangkabau Railink Jakarta–Bandung HSR
Malaysia	KTM Komuter  1  Seremban  2  Port Klang  10  Skypark KTM Komuter Northern  1  Padang Rengas  2  Padang Besar Rapid KL  3  Ampang  4  Sri Petaling  5  Kelana Jaya  8  KL Monorail  9  SBK  11  Bandar Utama-Klang  12  SSP  13  Circle ERL  6  KLIA Express  7  KLIA Transit KTM ETS Kuala Lumpur-Singapore HSR RTS Link
Myanmar	Yangon Circular Railway Yangon Tram
Philippines	Manila LRT  LRT1  Line 1  LRT2  Line 2  LRT4  Line 4  LRT6  Line 6 Manila MRT  MRT3  Line 3  MRT7  Line 7  MRT9  Line 9  PNR  Metro South Commuter Line Metro Manila Subway North South Commuter Rail
Singapore	Singapore MRT  NSL  North South  EWL  East West  NEL  North East  CCL  Circle  DTL  Downtown  TEL  Thomson-East Coast  JRL  Jurong Region  CRL  Cross Island Singapore LRT  BPLRT  Bukit Panjang  SKLRT  Sengkang  PGLRT  Punggol Kuala Lumpur-Singapore HSR RTS Link
Thailand	Bangkok Mass Transit BTS  BTS  Sukhumvit  BTS  Silom MRT  MRT  Blue  MRT  Purple  MRT  Orange  MRT  Pink  MRT  Yellow BMA  BMA  Light Blue  BMA  Grey Line  BMA  Gold Line SRT SRTET  ARL  SA City Line SRT Red Lines  SRT  Light Red  SRT  Dark Red SRT Commuter      Lopburi Line      Kaeng Khoi Line      Prachinburi Line      Ratchaburi Line      Suphan Buri Line SRT High Speed Railways Bangkok-Chiang Mai Bangkok-Nakhon Ratchasima Bangkok-Hua Hin Bangkok-Rayong KKTT Khon Kaen LRT PKCD Phuket LRT
Vietnam	Hanoi Metro Ho Chi Minh City Metro
Note: Under construction & planned lines are in Italics