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Transport in Malaysia

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Malaysia has six international airports, and two container ports ranked among the top 20 busiest in the world. The official airline of Malaysia is Malaysia Airlines, providing international and domestic air service alongside two other carriers. Most of the major cities are connected by air routes. The railway system is state-run, and covers a total of 1,849 km. Popular within the cities are commuter rail and rapid transit, which reduces the traffic load on other systems, and is considered safe, comfortable and reliable. Public transportation is more developed in Malaysia than in some of the other Southeast Asian countries.

Land

Roads

Malaysia's road network covers 290,099.38 kilometres (180,259 mi), of which 288,083.33 kilometres (179,006.68 mi) is paved/unpaved roads, and2,016.05 kilometres (1,252.72 mi) is expressways. The longest highway of the country, the North–South Expressway, extends over 800 kilometres (500 mi) between the Thai border and Singapore. The Second longest highway is East-Coast Highway (LPT-E8) Spanning almost 500 km from Kuala Lumpur to state capital of Terengganu, Kuala Terengganu. The road systems in Sabah and Sarawak are less developed and of lower quality in comparison to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Recently, the construction of Pan-Borneo Highway is approved under 2015 Malaysian Budget. The highway project spans 1,663 km (936 km in Sarawak, 727 km in Sabah) mostly mirror the existing trunk road, and it involves the widening of the present three-metre-wide single-carriageway into a dual-carriageway. Driving on the left has been compulsory since the introduction of motor vehicles in Federated Malay States in 1903 during British colonial era. It is estimated that 9,432,023 passenger cars are actively using this road network in 2018.

Railways

The railway system is state-run, and covers a total of 1,849 kilometres (1,149 mi). Most of the railway lines are consisted of ballasted setup, along with concrete sleepers, which serves better in wet and humid tropical condition, compared to wooden sleepers which can rot over time. As early as 1980s, due to the need for local suppliers of such products, a few local Malaysian rail manufacturing companies had been formed by collaboration with foreign technology partners.

1,792 kilometres (1,113 mi) of it is metre gauge, while 199.5 kilometres (124 mi) is standard gauge. Seven hundred and sixty-seven kilometres of metre gauge tracks and all of the standard gauge tracks are electrified. Intra-city travel is through relatively inexpensive rapid transit systems. Commuter rail and electric train service are available for most major only Kuala Lumpur and its neighbouring states, development of such efficient transportation have not been made in other states that really needs them. Malaysia already approved its first Kuala Lumpur–Singapore High Speed Rail project spanning 375 km between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. This rapid development had spurred growth of local Malaysian rail service Companies which cater to these niche needs.

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