SEREMBAN: Transport Minister Anthony Loke said his ministry will be making a working visit to Thailand in March or April in Bangkok, to enhance the synergy of cooperation between Malaysia and Thailand in the rail sector.
He said the Ministry of Transport (MOT) received an invitation from the Thai Transport Minister for the visit to discuss the matter and described the support and cooperation from Thailand as very important to ensure that the plan to implement the Pan-Asian railway network is achieved.
“For the Pan-Asian railway, we have collaborated with Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) and The State Railway of Thailand, there is already an ASEAN Express service for cargo between Malaysia and China, although the frequency is quite low, we hope it can be improved.
“When talking about Pan-Asia, cooperation with Thailand is very important, without their support, our trains cannot pass to the north, the infrastructure is also available so there are indeed projects to improve the track (rail) on both sides,“ he told reporters.
Loke said this after the handover ceremony of the ETS Class 93 Train, a Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) project by M Rail Technics Sdn Bhd (RAILTEC) to the Ministry of Transport at KTMB EMU Depot here today.
RAILTEC, a strategic joint venture between Destini Berhad and KTMB, is a major pillar in the railway MRO sector in this country.
The media previously reported that the Ministry of Transport hoped that the development plan for the railway network connecting Malaysia and China could be realised in the near future.
Meanwhile, Loke in his speech said that the MRO service sector not only supports infrastructure development, but is also an important element in driving economic and social growth, in line with Malaysia’s aspiration to become a leading regional rail transport hub.
“To achieve the target of 80 per cent rail track utilisation in Peninsular Malaysia by 2030, the government has developed a phased plan to increase passenger rail services throughout Malaysia (2024-2030) by targeting 299 passenger train operations nationwide.
“This huge opportunity must be fully exploited to make Malaysia a leader in this field (MRO), as the government has also invested significantly in rail infrastructure including projects such as MRT and LRT.
“With this effort, we can not only modernise the country’s rail sector, but also create new highly skilled job opportunities, in addition to actively implementing various continuous initiatives to increase investment in the development of MRO and the latest technology,“ he said.
He said that so far, 35 sets of KTM commuter trains with a repair value of RM531 million are being implemented by RAILTEC through the MRO project while 10 sets for ETS Class 93 are worth RM163 million.
