Kuala Lumpur Airport Express Rail Link, Malaysia

A ceremony was held in July 2000 to mark the start of work on a 57km express rail link between the centre of the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, and the principal international airport. By 2002, this line is expected to be carrying four trains per hour in each direction, offering a city centre to airport journey time of less than 30mins.

EXPRESS RAIL LINK (ERL)

The Express Rail Link (ERL) is a central element in the Malaysian government's strategy to enhance the role of the capital's international airport.

Its completion will coincide with improvement works at Sentral station, which will integrate the services of the ERL with those of the Commuter Rail Service (CRS), main line and commuter services operated by the KTMB national railway, the PUTRA automated light rail system and the KL Monorail system.

Operator Express Rail Link is a private company, owned by Tabung Haji Technologies and YTL Corporation Berhad, which has a 30-year concession to finance, build, operate and maintain the link. The terminal at the airport incorporates full check-in facilities and other airport services.

INFRASTRUCTURE

From the main Kuala Lumpur Sentral rail terminus, the track runs southwards alongside the Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad corridor, on which the first intermediate station, at Bandar Tasik Selatan, is located. The track continues to follow the KTMB corridor before deviating to cross the PLUS Expressway near the toll plaza for the University Putra Malaysia.

The second intermediate station is within Putrajaya's integrated western transport terminal, offering extensive bus connections. From here, the track continues southwards, crossing the Langat River, before running into the Commuter Rail Service (CRS) station at Salak Tinggi. This station also houses the ERL's main depot, administration centre, stabling yard, workshops and test track. The track enters the airport boundary after crossing the B20 road, and terminates on the ground floor of the main terminal building.

Approaching the end of 2000, works were almost three-quarters complete, including five bridges, with a further 25 under construction. The revamped Sentral station was set to open early in 2001. Rails are being delivered from Europe, and tracklaying began in July 2000, while equipment for the fabrication of catenary masts was delivered from South Korea and Japan at around the same time.

ROLLING STOCK

A fleet of twelve, four-car electric multiple units is being supplied by Siemens, eight of which will be dedicated for use on ERL services.

Based on the successful ET425 design widely used in Germany, the trains will have a top speed of 160kp/h (100mph).

The ERL-dedicated trains each have 156 seats, and, like the Heathrow Express trains built by Siemens for the UK, have an ambience similar to business class air travel.

The other four units will be employed on CRS commuter services, with higher density accommodation, designed to carry 540 passengers (144 seated) per four-car unit.

SIGNALLING/COMMUNICATIONS

The ERL will be governed by the ZSL90 automatic train protection system, which has previously been used on two Swiss narrow-gauge railways, and was being introduced on a third early in 2001. Route data, with details of curves, gradients, turnouts, stations and depots, is stored on a memory chip on board each train. Variable data, including the status of signals, points, level crossing barriers and temporary speed restrictions, is relayed to the train in real time via continuous cable in the track.

THE FUTURE

Delivery of the trains was due to take place between September 2001 and May 2002, at which time trial running is set to start over the ERL. The ERL is set to see four trains per hour from April 2002, with commuter rail services starting two months later. These will serve the developing catchment areas around Bandar Tasik, Selatan, Putrajaya and Salak Tinggi.