The growth of KLIA Ekspres has been impressive with average daily ridership climbing 42 from 2014 to 2015.

THE changing landscape in the transportation industry in recent times has certainly impacted Express Rail Link Sdn Bhd (ERL), which operates KLIA Ekspres, the dedicated high-speed rail service connecting Kuala Lumpur city centre to its international airports.

Increased operating costs and greater competition in the form of rising popularity of ride-sharing services are two major challenges it is dealing with.

Sustainability factors had led to KLIA Ekspres’ first-ever fare increase from the initial RM35 one-way to RM55 at the beginning of 2016.

These combined reasons consequently resulted in a drop of passengers.

ERL has set a more realistic target of 9.5 million passengers this year — a 13% drop from 2015’s 11 million passengers.

Its chief executive officer Noormah Mohd Noor said the initial drop in passenger numbers was anticipated.

“However, we are confident about bringing ridership up again soon by delivering greater service to our passengers,” she said.

She highlighted that the KLIA Ekspres, over the past 14 years, clocked an impressive on-time performance of 99.7%, which in empirical science, was considered near certainty.

ERL's maintenance team works round the clock to ensure trains are in excellent and reliable condition.

“At the end of the day, there are alternative modes of transport to airports; however, the environmental and infrastructural benefits of rail remain,” she said, adding that these were what the electric train hoped to offer its passengers on top of reliable service.

The KLIA Ekspres now also plies the KLIA2 route.

Noormah said ERL kept the safety of its train operations as the highest priority and its maintenance team worked round the clock to ensure trains were in excellent and reliable condition.

She said six new trains had been ordered and staggered delivery would start this month.

“The trains are targeted to begin operating in March 2017. Besides the airport run, the added trains will also help to cater to the high numbers of commuters that use our second train service, the KLIA Transit.

“Our trains have collectively clocked more than 66 million kilometres to-date, with an average of 6,500 trips a month.

“It is noteworthy that ERL has managed to keep cancelled trips, due to unforeseen circumstances, to an average of only two or less in a month,” she added.

KLIA Transit is a service that plies the same tracks as the Ekspres but which caters to the localities of Bandar Tasik Selatan, Salak Tinggi, Putrajaya and Cyberjaya.

The Transit service has enjoyed yearly double-digit growth in daily ridership since 2011 and in 2015, was transporting almost 18,000 commuters daily.

As one of 24 dedicated air rail links in the world, KLIA Ekspres is part of the Global AirRail Alliance (Gara) and has been acknowledged for its achievements through the alliance’s annual awards.

Among others, KLIA Ekspres was named AirRail Link of the Year (in 2012, 2014 and 2015) and awarded Best Customer Service (2011). In the same year, Noormah was named Personality of the Year.

Through its subsidiary ERL Maintenance Support (E-MAS), ERL has developed expertise in the high-speed rail sector and has worked as consultants on projects locally and internationally.

To-date, it has been involved in the Sentul-Batu Caves double-track project for KTM Bhd and the Perak-Hanjoong Simen project. Further afield, E-MAS has consulted on the Suvarnabhumi Airport Railway Line in Bangkok as well as the Puerto Rico Light Rail Project.

Since 2013, ERL staff have been sent to Makkah to support operations at the Makkah Metro train, a service that runs seven days a year to cater to the surge of pilgrims during the haj season.

“ERL is ever ready to share its expertise in operations, management and marketing,” said Noormah.

The KLIA Ekspres train service was among the first privatised mega rail projects in the 1990s and it is the only one that is still privately held.

Its growth has been impressive with average daily ridership on the KLIA Ekspres climbing 42% from 2014 to 2015.

Some key points that have contributed to its success are a financing structure with long-term viability, connectivity with other transport networks, support from airport authorities and strategic partnerships with other organisations.

Besides the obvious immediate public benefits, there are positive ripples the rail network has created for the communities it serves.

At the Bandar Tasik Selatan Station, a major bus terminal has been built, turning the area into a transport hub.

There has also been rapid growth around the Salak Tinggi Station with oil palm plantations giving way to a large residential area. Attracted by the easy access to public transport, the Xiamen University Malaysia opened its doors in the area in early 2016.

Connectivity has clearly brought economic benefits to the people living in the vicinity.

“We are proud to be part of the fabric of these communities,” said Noormah.

There are still many opportunities for growth that lie ahead for ERL.

“Our core business still remains the KLIA Ekspres,” said Noormah, while revealing that the company was working to enhance its last-mile connectivity to compete with door-to-door services and make itself attractive to business as well as leisure travellers with competitive pricing, packages and collaboration with partners.

In August, ERL transported its 75th millionth passenger (a combined figure from both its KLIA Ekspres and Transit services).

The trains run at intervals of 15, 20 and 30 minutes.