ECRL Ticket Price: Every Fare From Gombak, and How It Compares

An ECRL ticket from Gombak starts at RM24 to Bentong and RM125 to Kota Bharu on the Transit train, which stops everywhere, or RM147 on the four-hour Express, Malaysia Rail Link (MRL) says. Those are starting prices: fares move with demand, and MRL’s own mid-range fare to Kota Bharu is RM156. Passenger trains are due to start on 12 December, with 30% off economy tickets for the first month. Below: every published fare, what students and seniors pay, and how the train compares with a bus, a flight or your own car.

ECRL ticket price from Gombak

These are MRL’s starting one-way fares in economy class from Terminal Bersepadu Gombak. The three Express fares come from MRL’s announcement on 19 October (FMT, Lowyat); the station-by-station Transit fares are from ECRL’s Facebook post, as reported by RinggitPlus. Fares are the same in both directions.

• Prices move. The Cabinet approved a dynamic fare on 16 October, so the price depends on when you travel, demand and seats left, with safeguards against “excessive increases” (Lowyat). MRL chief executive Darwis Abdul Razak put the mid-range Transit fare to Kota Bharu at RM156; it can go higher with booking time and season (The Edge).
• Express or Transit. Express trains stop only at Gombak, KotaSAS, Kuala Terengganu and Kota Bharu and take about four hours end to end; Transit trains stop at every station and take up to five (FMT).
• How many trains. 12 a day from Monday to Thursday and 16 from Friday to Sunday (The Edge).
• Premium economy and business classes exist, but MRL has not published their fares (RinggitPlus).

ECRL ticket price for students, seniors and OKU

Children aged 2 to 12, Malaysians aged 60 and over, OKU card holders and government pensioners get 50% off; students aged 13 to 24 get 40% off (FMT). MRL has not published concession prices per station, so the figures below are our arithmetic on the starting fares.

The launch offer: 30% off for a month

• What it is. 30% off Economy Transit and Express fares for the first month of service, announced by Transport Minister Anthony Loke on 20 October (Malay Mail, The Star).
• Who gets it. Passengers who do not qualify for a concession fare; those who do keep their permanent 50% discount instead (Malay Mail).
• What it could mean. Applied to the starting fare, Gombak to Kota Bharu would be RM87.50 on Transit and RM102.90 on Express, our arithmetic. RinggitPlus notes it is not yet clear whether the 30% comes off the starting fare or the dynamic one, and the first month runs into the school holidays, when demand is high (RinggitPlus).

ECRL vs bus, flight and car to Kota Bharu

• Bus: RM44 to RM68 one way and about nine and a half hours in good traffic, far longer at festive peaks (Malay Mail).
• Flight: RM123 to RM167 one way and about 1 hour 10 minutes in the air, before getting to and through the airport (Malay Mail).
• Car: about 420km and RM17 in tolls one way, roughly 6 hours 25 minutes in good traffic (Malay Mail). At RM1.99 a litre for BUDI95 RON95 (see this week’s petrol prices), fuel is RM37.60 for a small car using 4.5 litres per 100km and RM58.50 for a car using 7 litres. That puts the trip at RM55 to RM76 for the whole car, our sum.
• ECRL: from RM125 on Transit and RM147 on Express, with about four hours on the Express. It starts at Gombak, not KL Sentral, so add the trip to the terminal.

For a family of four, the car is still cheaper

Two adults and two children aged 2 to 12, Gombak to Kota Bharu, one way. Train fares are our arithmetic on the starting fares; the car is fuel and tolls only.

For one person travelling alone, the sums flip: RM125 on the train against RM55 to RM76 for the car, and the Express saves up to about two and a half hours on the road each way. For a family, the train costs four to eight times more than the car on fuel and tolls, before parking, wear and the cost of getting around at the other end. The petrol figures assume the RM1.99 BUDI95 price; at the unsubsidised RM3.87 a litre, the same 420km in a 7-litre car would cost about RM131 with tolls. Our weekly petrol notes track that price.

When can you buy ECRL tickets?

• Mid-November target. MRL said ticket sales would open in mid-November (FMT, Malay Mail). No sales date or booking channel had been announced when we checked on 15 November, and the ECRL website had no booking page.
• Trial runs. MRL started trial operations between Gombak and Kota Bharu on 7 November; they run to 2 December (paultan.org, Malay Mail).
• 12 December is the target for the first passenger trains, subject to safety requirements and regulatory approval (Lowyat).

• Late NovTicket sales open: watch for the booking channel, the refund rules and how high dynamic fares go for December dates.
• 2 DecTrial runs end (paultan.org).
• 12 DecFirst passenger trains; the 30% launch month starts.

Sources

• FMT: ECRL tickets to go on sale in mid-November, starting at RM125
• Lowyat: ECRL ticket sales to open with fares starting from RM60
• The Edge: ECRL Gombak-Kota Bharu fares start at RM125
• RinggitPlus: ECRL tickets from Gombak start at RM24 (in Malay)
• Malay Mail: ECRL targets Dec 12 launch with 30pc fare discount
• The Star: 30% discount on ECRL economy tickets for the first month
• Malay Mail (via Yahoo): ECRL, bus, plane or car? Weighing the cost
• Malay Mail: ECRL enters final trial run ahead of Dec 12 launch
• paultan.org: ECRL trial runs begin ahead of December 12 launch
• ECRL: official website