15 November 2023
KTM Kuala Lipis Station

On this day, six members from MTREC including two members from foreign country joins our trip for a joyride from Kuala Lumpur to Kuala Lipis to experience ETS, Intercity and the latest rolling stock introduced on the East Coast Line, Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU).

The new rolling stock Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) was introduced on 11 April 2021, with services between Tumpat, Dabong, Gua Musang and Kuala Lipis. All the journey times has been significantly reduced compared to the conventional loco hauled shuttle services. The shuttle service between Kuala Lipis and Gemas was introduced later on 21 February 2022.

Participants gathered at KL Sentral station around 21:00 to catch ETS EG9425 scheduled for departure at 21:40. After we arrived at Gemas, participants took the chance to do some spotting at the platform before continuing our second leg of journey with Ekspres Rakyat Timuran No. 26. Once onboard ERT, participants immediately went to discover the coaches before enjoying a late night supper on the Air-Conditioned Buffet Coach (ABC).

Upon our on-time arrival at Kuala Lipis, participants went for a breakfast at Kuala Lipis town, took the opportunity to selfie with the DMU train, and taken our group photo at the station signage and with the train. Our 5 hours journey towards Gemas began with a ride onboard Class 61 CRRC Zhuzhou DMU. During our journey, participants exchanged ideas and discussed difference of DMU and ETS with the new technology used onboard.

Upon our arrival at Gemas station, participants were greeted by an extremely rare locomotive G10 manufactured by SMH Rail undergoing testing. Participants waste no time to quickly take photo with the rare loco before our return journey. Finally, our joyride concluded back at KL Sentral station. It was a fun and tiring day for all our participants, and the joyride left us eager for more adventures!

This joyride event on the KTM Intercity DMU to Kuala Lipis marks the second intercity trip and it shows a success in our group to promote the use of KTM Intercity DMU on the east coast line. We are looking forward to organising more events in the future to promote the use of our rail system in Malaysia. Do join our group for updates at https://www.facebook.com/groups/mtrec