KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 23 (Bernama) -- His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, today officiated the launch of the Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd (KTMB) Electric Train Service 3 (ETS3) for the southern route at Kuala Lumpur Station.
His Majesty arrived at the station at 7.45 am and was welcomed by Transport Minister Anthony Loke, Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Hasbi Habibollah, and Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar.
Following the ETS3 special launching ceremony, Sultan Ibrahim personally took the controls of the ETS3 train, which is capable of reaching operating speeds of up to 140 km/h, for a journey to Kluang Station in Johor.
Accompanying His Majesty on the trip, which took approximately three hours and 30 minutes, were Loke, Shamsul Azri, and Transport Ministry Secretary-General Datuk Seri Jana Santhiran Muniayan.
At the Kluang Station, Sultan Ibrahim is scheduled to officiate the opening of the Mahkota Rail Park, a landmark 2.8-kilometre public park built beneath the viaduct alignment of the Gemas–Johor Bahru Electric Double Track Project.
After the ceremony, Sultan Ibrahim will return to Kuala Lumpur aboard the ETS3.
In 2010, Sultan Ibrahim made history and was recognised by the Malaysia Book of Records as the first Sultan in the country to hold a Class 26 High-Powered Locomotive Driving Licence.
His Majesty also drove a train during the Kembara Mahkota Johor programme in the same year.
His Majesty obtained a locomotive driving licence and carried out a turntable procedure to turn an 86-tonne locomotive within 10 minutes at Gemas Station in Negeri Sembilan, earning recognition as the first Sultan to drive a train over a distance of 391.3 kilometres in three days.
Last Tuesday, Sultan Ibrahim took the driver’s seat to test-drive KTMB’s ETS2 from Kuala Lumpur to Rawang.
Loke had earlier said that both sets of ETS3 Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) trains for the southern route to Johor Bahru Sentral are undergoing technical tests and, if successful, will begin operations this month.
-- BERNAMA
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