The East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) system can support up to 24 daily train trips, with passenger journey times from Gombak to Kota Bharu targeted at around four hours.
KUALA LUMPUR: The East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) system can support up to 24 train trips a day, said ECRL Operation Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Mohd Zaidi Sharif.
He said the actual number of trips would depend on operational requirements and costs.
“Even with a single-track system, it can support up to 24 trips,” he said during an Editor’s Briefing on ECRL Operation Readiness here today.
Mohd Zaidi said the current operating plan was to offer about 2.2 million seats over one year, with around 12 services on weekdays and 13 on weekends, subject to the final operating plan.
He said the ECRL would operate one regular service, two express services and four transit services from Monday to Thursday, with an additional service on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
The passenger timetable is still being finalised, with the first service expected to begin at about 6.30am and the last service at around 11.59pm.
“For freight services, there would be no fixed timetable at this stage, with services to be arranged based on customer requirements.
“Safety will remain a key consideration in our operations,” he said.
Mohd Zaidi said ECRL was confident of meeting passenger demand, including from the East Coast states.
He said direct services from Kuantan could be operated to ensure passengers travelling towards Kota Bharu had sufficient seating capacity, even when trains were already carrying passengers from earlier stations.
On journey times, Mohd Zaidi said the ECRL’s Comprehensive Inspection Train (CIT) had completed the 519km journey from Gombak to Kota Bharu in three hours and 19 minutes without stopping at Kuantan.
He said that, allowing additional time for stops at Kuantan and two other locations, a journey time of about four hours would be a reasonable target.
He added that the 10-car trainsets were expected to provide sufficient capacity for passenger operations.
