Kuala Lumpur: April 17, 2008
The KL-Ipoh commuter train service, slated to start this year, will be operational only in early 2010, Transport Minister Datuk Ong Tee Keat said today.
Since the approval to buy new trains was only given recently, it would take at least another two years for the trains to arrive, he said.
“We have ordered the new trains,” he told reporters after his visit to the KTM Berhad head office at KL Sentral.
The journey between Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh, which will take two hours and 15 minutes, will start from KL Sentral with stops in Rawang, Tanjong Malim, Tapah, Kampar and Batu Gajah before reaching Ipoh.
The service will be available only after completion of the ongoing RM4.3 billion Rawang-Ipoh double-track project which started in 2001.
However, the project was bogged down by delays since 2003 following changes involving an earlier consortium tasked with implementing the project.
To date, 98 per cent of the project has been completed and contractors are now in the final phase of testing the electricity cables.
KTMB is expected to spend about RM150 million to buy six new electric trains, with each train having six coaches, in order to have a service interval for every two hours.
Currently, the commuter service has been extended from Rawang to Rasa station from Kuala Lumpur.
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Dear All,
Let us hope that with the system in place and on going Perak, particularly Ipoh will experience rejuvenation in terms of economic activities and growth. It has been about time that Perak be removed from the list as being one of the most mundane economic state in Malaysia.
Similarly, I hope that the newly installed regime will bring about better economic ideas for the state.
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