Private company

Keretapi Tanah Melayu

Logo: Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons³

Malaysian rail operator

Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) (lit. 'Malayan Railway Limited'; Jawi: كريتاڤي تانه ملايو برحد) or colloquially referred to simply as KTM, is the main railway operator in Peninsular Malaysia. The railway system dates back to the British colonial era, when it was first built to transport tin. Previously known as the Federated Malay States Railways (FMSR), the Malayan Railway Administration (MRA), and the Malayan Railway, KTM acquired its current name in 1962.² Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1992Founded¹

HeadquartersKuala Lumpur¹
Websitewww.ktmb.com.my
Legal formberhad¹

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Corporate structure

Keretapi Tanah Melayu sits at the top of its group. 1 entity, 1 country on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

Keretapi Tanah Melayu Kuala Lumpur
- Kampung Batu station Owned · Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Lahat railway station Owned · Perak, Malaysia
- Pasir Mas railway station Owned · Pasir Mas, Malaysia
- Port Klang Line Owned · federal territory of Malaysia, Malaysia
- Seremban Line Owned · Selangor, Malaysia
- Skypark Link Owned · Subang Jaya, Malaysia

Built from subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0); major holders from Schedules 13D and 13G. Each entity in the chart links to its source.

What it owns

What Keretapi Tanah Melayu reports owning in its annual reports to the SEC: buildings, land and equipment, real estate and locations, investments, intangible assets and inventory, at the end of its latest fiscal year and a year before.

Stakes and holdings (Wikidata)

Kampung Batu station
Lahat railway station
Pasir Mas railway station
Port Klang Line
Seremban Line
Skypark Link

Things Wikidata records the company as owning, with the share when stated.¹

The story

In 1948, the FMSR was renamed the Malayan Railway. The railways had been devastated by the Japanese invasion of Malaya, and efforts were taken to rebuild the two main lines, but many branch lines were abandoned in the process.

The MR began to modernize the equipment with the ordering of diesel locomotives and railcars to replace steam-hauled services, and the first diesel locomotive entered service in 1957. The railcars entered service in 1960, initially on short-haul services. Rapid services were introduced later, cutting travel times from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur down to six hours, which was competitive at the time. MR and later KTM continued ordering more diesel locomotives through the decades, rendering the old steam locomotives redundant. The last steam locomotive was withdrawn from service in 1974.

Malayan Railways also operated an air service from 1954 to 1958, known as Federation Air Service. The service was transferred to Malayan Airways in March 1958.

The 1970s saw the closure of many branch lines, such as the Batu Arang branch in 1971 and the historic Taiping to Port Weld branch in 1972. The Port Dickson branch was converted to freight-only operation in 1972, although seasonal passenger service did continue for a short while. However, construction did continue for a new line to the Subang Airport used to transport fuel, which opened in 1980.

Railbuses were introduced in the 1980s for short-haul commuter services. They were deployed in the Klang Valley, on Kuala Lumpur to Ipoh, Ipoh to Butterworth, Gemas to Mentakab and Kulai to Singapore services. On certain routes such as Kulai to Singapore, the railbuses were faster than conventional trains, and in this instance saved travel time of 15 minutes. They lasted until the introduction of KTM Komuter in 1995, which took over commuter services in the Klang Valley except for Kulai to Singapore, where a planned Johor Bahru to Singapore route utilizing electric multiple units (overhead rail variant) was abandoned after Singapore moved their border controls on the railway to Woodlands Train Checkpoint in 1998.

KTM was corporatized in 1992, with all assets now under the ownership and management of the Railway Assets Corporation (RAC). The company runs as a private enterprise although owned and subsidized by the Malaysian government. There were attempts by private companies to take over the operations since then, but such proposals were rejected by the Malaysian government.

The 1990s saw the start of another modernization program. Proposals were made to electrify and double-track the West Coast Line, which started with the Klang Valley area. Electric trains made their debut on 3 August 1995 with KTM Komuter, with services from Port Klang to Sentul and Rawang to Seremban. Under this program, existing stations were renovated or rebuilt, and new stations were built.

The program was faced with delays throughout the 2000s, with the government postponing many electrification projects. However, from 2007 onwards there was a renewed effort to electrify the rest of the West Coast Line. The completion of such electrification projects from Padang Besar to JB Sentral to date has allowed the commencement of electrified intercity services in the form of KTM ETS. As the projects were completed in stages, the KTM Komuter and KTM ETS services were expanded over the years to take advantage of the upgraded lines. The East Coast Line, which had not seen upgrades for many years, saw upgrades in the form of rehabilitated track, new Diesel multiple units (DMUs). and many refurbished and rebuilt stations.

From Wikipedia’s article on Keretapi Tanah Melayu, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.⁴

Products and brands

Railway network

The 1000mm gauge network consists of two main lines and several branch lines.

West Coast Line

The West Coast Line runs from the Malaysia-Thailand Border, where it connects with the State Railway of Thailand, to Woodlands Train Checkpoint in Singapore, serving the West Coast states of Peninsular Malaysia. The line runs through most of the major stations in Peninsular Malaysia, such as JB Sentral, Gemas, KL Sentral, Ipoh, Butterworth and Padang Besar railway station.

Branch lines

There are several branch lines running from the West Coast Line. Some are mixed traffic, catering to passenger and freight traffic while others only cater to freight trains.

Kuala Lumpur - Port Klang (Mixed Traffic), with further branches:

Read the full text

Subang Jaya - Terminal SkyPark (Passenger - Not In Service)

Port Klang - Pulau Indah (Freight)

Putra - Batu Caves (Mixed Traffic)

Butterworth - Bukit Mertajam (Mixed Traffic), with a further branch:

Butterworth - North Butterworth Container Terminal (Freight)

Kempas Baru - Tanjung Pelepas (Freight)

Kempas Baru - Pasir Gudang (Mixed Traffic)

East Coast Line

The East Coast Line branches off from the West Coast Line at Gemas, running to Tumpat in Kelantan, serving two of Peninsular Malaysia's East Coast states, namely Pahang and Kelantan. Despite its name, it only meets the coast when it reaches Tumpat railway station. It runs through the interior, often through deep jungle, thus earning the nickname Jungle Railway.

Branch line

There is only one branch line on the East Coast Line, between Pasir Mas and Rantau Panjang in Kelantan which was completed in 1921. However, since 1978, this branch line has not been in use.

Services

As a national railway company, KTM is involved in the business of providing rail-based transportation. This can be divided into four major services:

KTM Intercity

KTM Intercity (Malay: KTM Antarabandar) is the brand name for long-haul passenger trains that connect cities and major towns served by the KTM rail network.

The service is provided using conventional locomotive-hauled coaches and newer diesel multiple units (DMUs). Services span the length of East Coast Line, and a small portion of the West Coast Line network. Current daily services include:

Locomotive-hauled coaches:

Ekspres Rakyat Timuran from JB Sentral in Johor, to Tumpat in Kelantan with 1 return trip daily,

Shuttle Tebrau from JB Sentral in Johor to the Woodlands Train Checkpoint in Singapore, with 18 Singapore-bound trains and 13 Johor-bound trains.

DMUs:

Shuttle Timuran from Gemas to Tumpat in Kelantan with:

Gemas - Kuala Lipis (2 return trips daily)

Kuala Lipis - Tumpat (1 return trip daily)

Kuala Lipis - Gua Musang (1 return trip daily)

Gua Musang - Tumpat (2 return trips daily)

Dabong - Tumpat (1 return trip daily)

It is possible for customers to rent specialized coaches for event management, conferences and even weddings.

KTM Intercity has also been involved in various types of collaborations, joint-promotions, and cross-promotions with all state-level tourism bodies, travel agencies and travel-related industry players in developing rail packages for group travellers.

KTM ETS

The KTM ETS, an abbreviation for Electric Train Service, is a higher-speed rail intercity train service that uses electric multiple unit (EMU) trainsets on the same meter-gauge like the rest of the railway. The service originally started 2010 and has currently expanded, with the last extension opened on 12 December 2025. The trains travel up to 140 km/h (87 mph) on electrified lines, although they are designed to be capable of up to 160 km/h (99 mph).

It currently operates on the main West Coast Line from JB Sentral, Johor to Padang Besar, Perlis as well as the branch line to Butterworth, Penang. The train service was recently extended down south towards JB Sentral, providing connections onward to Singapore via the KTM Intercity's Shuttle Tebrau service and the RTS Link in the future.

These services have reduced travel time as compared to the previous intercity services which ran on diesel, with a considerably lower top speed at around 80 km/h (50 mph), and have brought a revival to intercity rail travel, which was previously beaten out by faster road and air options. Ridership for intercity rail service has more than doubled in the past decade to over 8.75 million in 2024.

KTM Komuter

KTM Komuter is a commuter rail service serving the Klang Valley, the Greater Penang Conurbation in the north and the Johor Bahru Conurbation in the south.

The central sector in the Klang Valley consists of the Batu Caves–Pulau Sebang Line Tanjung Malim–Port Klang Line and KL Sentral–Terminal Skypark Line. The KL Sentral-Terminal SkyPark Line is an airport train service linking KL Sentral to the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang, Selangor. However, the service was suspended from 15th February 2023 onwards due to low ridership. The entire Central Sector fleet presently consists of the KTM Class 83 (three-car) and KTM Class 92 (six-car) trainsets.

The KTM Komuter Northern Sector consists of two routes, namely the Butterworth-Ipoh Line and Padang Besar-Butterworth Line. It mostly utilized by KTM Class 92 (six-car) and KTM Class 83 (three-car) trainsets.

The KTM Komuter Southern Sector (officially known as the Shuttle Selatan) is the latest Komuter service in the country with two routes, the Paloh-JB Sentral Line and the Kempas Baru-Pasir Gudang Line. As of 1 October 2026, the sets that were used on these lines were:

JB Sentral - Paloh Line: Some of KTM Intercity's ASC (Air-Conditioned Second Class Coach) coaches hauled by diesel locomotives.

Kempas Baru - Pasir Gudang Line: KTM Class 81 EMU 09 & KTM Class 83 EMU 25 (Hybrid Service)

KTM Kargo

KTM Kargo provides cargo conveyance services, with a network that spans almost the whole of the KTMB rail network. It is accessible from seaports and Inland Container Terminal (ICT) as well as industrial centres.

Cargo services are a major contributor to KTM's overall revenue.

Currently, there are 45 cargo train services daily with 23 routes daily, of which about 70% are concentrated in the Northern sector. KTMB runs 37 freight train services daily of which about 80% are concentrated in the Northern sector.

The services include

Bukit Ketri - Kuang (Cement) (Operated by CIMA)

Padang Rengas - Batu Caves (Cement) (Operated by YTL Cement)

Padang Rengas - Gelang Patah (Cement)

Kanthan - Padang Jawa (Cement)

Tasek - Gelang Patah (Cement)

Prai - Padang Besar (South Thai Cargo)

Pelabuhan Klang - Prai (Landfeeder)

Pelabuhan Klang - Padang Besar (Landfeeder)

Pelabuhan Klang - Ipoh (Landfeeder)

Pelabuhan Klang - Pasir Gudang (Landfeeder)

North Port - West Port (Inter Terminal Transfer)

West Port - North Port (Inter Terminal Transfer)

PTP - Pasir Gudang (Inter Terminal Transfer)

Prai - Thungsong (Landbridge)

Prai - Surathani (Landbridge)

Prai - Padang Besa (Thai) - (Landbridge)

Pelabuhan Klang - Hatyai (Landbridge)

Sungai Way - Bangkok (Landbridge)

Prai - Sungai Buloh (Sugar)

Gurun - Butterworth (Urea) (Operated by PETRONAS)

Main commodities carried by rail comprise the following:

Maritime containers

Landbridge cargos

Cement

Sugar

Gypsum

Chemicals

Generally, cargo is moved either in open or covered wagons. As of 2025, covered wagons have been replaced with containers to allow for flexibility i.e. goods can be dismounted from the train and delivered directly to customers' premises.

Non-rail subsidiaries

KTM operates several non-rail subsidiaries. Though considered as non-core businesses, KTMB has benefited from these two operations, which are:

Multimodal Freight (MMF)

Multimodal Freight Sdn. Bhd., incorporated in 1988, was licensed as a government approved Container Haulier in 1991, and went on to obtain the Government approved Multimodal Transport Operator (MTO) status in 1999. The company operates a fleet of 225 Prime Movers and 1,300 trailers of both 20-foot and 40-foot configurations. The fleet is deployed at all major seaports and the inland ports of Ipoh and Nilai.

KTM Distribution (KTMD)

Its core business was in the provision of express parcel distribution services to the commercial, industrial and administrative sectors and operated within Malaysia and Singapore. Parcel distribution previously carried out via parcel train cars attached to intercity services where items like parcel and motorbikes could be carried, but this practice has since moved to trucks after rail modernization and the closure of Tanjong Pagar Railway station in Singapore. Previously, KTMD was also licensed by the Malaysian Communications & Multimedia Commission as a courier service provider, which enabled it to carry letters and documents up to 2 kg (4.4 lb). On 1 November 2022, KTM Distribution announced it would be ending its service after 38 years of operations.