TheKTM East Coast railway line is a single-track metre gauge railway line inMalaysia that runs betweenGemas inNegeri Sembilan andTumpat inKelantan. Gemas is the rail junction between theKTM West Coast Line and East Coast Line. Like the West Coast Line, it is called the East Coast railway line because it serves two ofPeninsular Malaysia's East Coast states, namelyPahang andKelantan. However, it does not actually run along the coast at all and only meets theSouth China Sea when it terminates atTumpat . It runs through the interior of Peninsular Malaysia, often through deep jungle, thus earning the nicknameJungle Railway.Terengganu is the only state in Peninsular Malaysia not served by the KTM railway network.[1]
The East Coast Line was briefly disrupted due to floods which struck the east coast states on 22 December 2014, causing extensive damage to the track infrastructure, signage equipment as well as track maintenance machinery which were submerged underwater. In August 2020, then MalaysianTransport MinisterWee Ka Siong said the government had allocated RM874.7m to upgrade track infrastructure and trains at the east coast sector and projected that the railway would resume services by 2021.[3]
On 12 April 2021, KTMB launched itsKTM Class 61 Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) trains for the East Coast Line route between Kelantan and Pahang. Wee Ka Siong said the DMU trains were being introduced specifically to replace KTM's conventional diesel trains forKTM Intercity'sShuttle Timuran service betweenTumpat andKuala Lipis. He claimed the new DMU will reduce travel time as the average speed of the train is about 100kph, compared to the conventional trains that run between 50kph and 60kph. The DMU trains, covering 216km from Tumpat andGua Musang and 94km from Gua Musang to Kuala Lipis, would be fully operational in stages. The Tumpat-Gua Musang-Kuala Lipis route represents the first phase of the upgrading process. The second phase will cover routes toGemas, while the third phase will cover the Gua Musang-Mentakab stretch along the Pahang route.[4]
KTM Intercity
KTM ETS atGemas
Kelantan
Pahang
Negeri Sembilan
