East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) fares are expected to be priced below airfares but slightly above bus fares, with the official ticket rates set to be announced this month ahead of sales beginning in November.
Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd (MRL) Chief Executive Officer Datuk Seri Darwis Abdul Razak said the Transport Ministry is expected to announce the fares, which would adopt a dynamic and affordable pricing structure.
Ticket sales are targeted to begin in November, ahead of the ECRL’s planned commercial operations in mid-December 2026.
Darwis shared that for the first phase, ECRL trains will operate 12 return trips daily from Monday to Thursday and around 14 return trips from Friday to Sunday.
Phase One, covering Kota Bharu to Gombak, reached 98.16% completion as of September, with MRL confident of meeting the mid-December operational target.
Darwis said the ECRL Comprehensive Inspection Train recently completed a non-stop 519km journey from Gombak to Kota Bharu in three hours and 19 minutes, reaching speeds of up to 160kmph.
The run demonstrated the potential for an express service along the Gombak-KotaSAS-Kuala Terengganu-Kota Bharu route in under four hours.
The 665km ECRL will connect Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang with Selangor, cutting travel time between Kota Bharu and Gombak to about four hours from roughly seven hours by road.
