STATE Railway of Thailand (SRT) and Malayan Railway Corporation (KTMB) reached agreement during the 43rd SRT–KTMB Joint Conference to improve cooperation between the two railways to upgrade cross-border services including the restoration of the Bangkok - Butterworth train service.
The conference was attended by SRT Governor Veeris Ammarapala, Afzar Zakariya, KTMB’s chief operating officer and Mohamed Irwan Mansor, under-secretary for land transport at Malaysia’s Ministry of Transport.
The meeting agreed to advance cooperation in six key areas:
- resumption of the Bangkok - Butterworth cross-border train service
- track doubling
- integration of passenger ticketing systems
- inspection and certification of cross-border rolling stock
- joint promotion of rail tourism and marketing activities, and
- establishment of joint standard operating procedures during emergencies.
Malaysia has invested heavily in its metre-gauge railway south of the border and the line from Pedang Basar south to Kuala Lumpur and Gemas is now electrified at 25kV ac. KTMB operates five daily services south from Pedang Besar. However, there is only one overnight diesel service from Pedang Besar to Bangkok.
