MALAYSIA: The first of 10 ETS3 trainsets being supplied by CRRC Zhuzhou for national railway KTMB’s long-distance services on the west coast corridor entered revenue service on August 30, after King of Malaysia Ibrahim ibni Iskandar joined an inaugural trip one week before.
The trainsets designated Class 94 were ordered for the west coast corridor in 2020, as the third generation of electric trainset developed by CRRC for KTMB. The first two ETS3 sets were manufactured by CRRC Zhuzhou in China, and the rest locally by CRRC Malaysia Railway Transportation Equipment.
The six-car metre-gauge trainsets have a design speed of 160 km/h and currently operate at 140 km/h, giving a journey time from Kuala Lumpur to Johor of 3 h 30 min.
Features include an intelligent driver assistance system to reduce energy consumption, CCTV and batteries which can maintain ventilation and lighting for 2 h without external power. There are 312 seats, including 36 in business class, with spaces for passengers with reduced mobility, an accessible toilet and a prayer room.
CRRC said the ETS3 offers ‘excellent’ acceleration, energy efficiency, environmental friendliness and reliability, and it has developed a bespoke support plan for the fleet.
