KTM Intercity (formerly known as KTM Antarabandar) is Malaysia’s iconic long-distance rail service operated by Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB). This service represents the early era of rail travel in the country and mainly uses conventional trains hauled by diesel locomotives to provide passenger services on non-electrified rail lines.
KTM Intercity operates on the East Coast Main Line and Southern part of the West Coast Main Line. In addition to locomotive-hauled trains, some services are now operated using modern Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs) to improve passenger comfort. KTM Intercity offers a wide variety of coaches including First and Second Class for both Seating and Sleeper coaches, as well as Buffet coaches to cater for different travel needs.
Dating back to the 1960s, KTM Intercity has played an important role in Malaysia’s rail history and regional connectivity. Today the service operates three main routes which are Ekspres Rakyat Timuran, Shuttle Timuran, and Shuttle Tebrau to provide essential intercity travel across Peninsular Malaysia.
Class 91 Hyundai Rotem
Class 93/1 CSR Zhuzhou ETS1
Class 93/2 CRRC Zhuzhou ETS2
Class 94 CRRC Zhuzhou ETS3
Ekspres Rakyat Timuran
Shuttle Timuran
Shuttle Tebrau
ETS Silver
KTM Intercity trains use a standard train number system to identify the service
ETS trains use a standard train number system to identify the service route and service category. Each train number consists of two letters followed by four digits.
The 1st and 2nd digits indicate the route served, the 3rd digit shows the ETS service type, while the 4th digit represents the train sequence number for the day and increases based on the scheduled order of services. The first train of the day starts with a lower number, while later services use higher numbers depending on the total trips for that day.
This train number system allow trains to be easily identified in timetables for both operators and passengers.
Meaning of the 1st and 2nd digits:
90XX: KL Sentral – Ipoh
91XX: KL Sentral – Butterworth
92XX: KL Sentral – Padang Besar
93XX: Butterworth – Segamat
94XX: Padang Besar – JB Sentral
95XX: KL Sentral – JB Sentral
99XX: Special train services
Meaning of the 3rd digit:
0 – 1: ETS Express
2 – 3: ETS Platinum
4 – 5: ETS Gold
6 – 7: ETS Silver
8 – 9: ETS Additional train services
Meaning of the last digit:
Odd numbers: Southbound services towards JB Sentral.
Even numbers: Northbound services towards Butterworth and Padang Besar.