Sunday 14 February 2016

ETS Experience

It was my first trip from Alor Setar to Kuala Lumpur on the Keretapi Tanah Melayu KTM) ETS train running between Padang Besar to Gemas with stops at slelected stations including the Kuala Lumpur Central station. Trial runs was done in early 2015. Read HERE.

Travelling by train is gaining momentum among Malaysians since introduce the high speed train service along the Western coast of Peninsular Malaysia even the fare might be a bit high compared to Express buses or maybe sometimes low fare flights. However for me as a senior citizen, I only pay 50% of the normal Adult fare. To be considered a senior citizen one must attain the age of 60 years old according to calendar year not month.

At time of writing this post KTM runs two trips daily Northbound to Padang Besar and two Southbound. Out of the two trips, only one starts and end at Kuala Lumpur Central (EG 9208 and EG 9209).  EG 9204 and EG 9203 runs from Gemas to Padang Besar and return.

CHECK HERE FOR TRIPS DETAILS

I had the opportunity to ride on both train class that operate between both point, the Class 91 and Class 93.

Top: Class 91 and Bottom Class 93 trains

My southbound trip to Kuala Lumpur Central was on the Class 91 train. The train runs down to Butterworth and was happy that the seat was facing the front. However from Butterworth to KL Central it was facing the tail of the train and it was travelling backward all the way. The seats was arranged in such a way that half of it face the opposite directions.

It was the EG9209 and means made stops at more stations along the route. However the train arrive as schedule at my destination station.

Traveling on the ETS is very comfortable with basic facilities required by short distance travelers. There's a bistro and a surau on board. 



Train fares is as follows. It can be purchased at the stations or online at KTMB 

Note: Senior Citizen (60 years and above) gets a 50% discount.

KTMB Call Centre 1-300-88-5862.

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