KTM ETS Express 9006up Non-Stop Train from KL Sentral to Ipoh Train Review

ETS Express 9006up is the very first non-stop ETS train from KL Sentral to Ipoh, a uni-directional special train running for the Chinese New Year 2024 period. For this trip, I bought myself a ticket on the very first ETS Express 9006up Non-Stop Train on 7 February 2024, to experience travelling from KL to Ipoh non-stop in just 2 hours.

Kuala Lumpur Sentral Railway Station (KL Sentral)

Kuala Lumpur Sentral Railway Station (KL Sentral) has been decorated with Chinese New Year 2024 decorations for the Year of the Dragon.

A Chinese New Year 2024 arch welcomes passengers at Gate B.

Ticket scanning into the waiting area at Gate B commenced at 9.49am – 36 minutes before departure.

Passengers now enter the waiting area after ticket scanning.

With this change, the passenger flow path now loops around itself when the train is ready for boarding.

A line is created at the side of Gate B about 2 minutes before boarding.

Boarding commenced at 10.15am – only 10 minutes before departure.

Heading down the escalator to the platform.

My ETS Express 9006up is already waiting at Platform 2.

The sign on the 93 Class ETS train set lists the ETS Express 9006up train as Special 9006.

93 Class ETS205 leads my ETS Express 9006up non-stop train from KL Sentral to Ipoh.

The interior of the 93 Class ETS train. Only standard class seating is available on board the 93 Class ETS train.

My booked seat at 8D. 8D is a forward facing window seat in the middle of the coach at the split of directions, so this offers me a guilt-free recline when seated.

A 3-pin power socket is located underneath between each seat, and covered with a spring flap. This makes it quite difficult and awkward to plug in a power socket especially when I had a stranger seat neighbour beside. Some apologising was needed when bending down suspiciously.

The legroom available on board the 93 Class ETS train.

A tray table is provided on the seat back in front.

A safety sticker is pasted behind the seat back behind the tray table.

My ETS Express 9006up departed from KL Sentral at 10.26am – 1 minute late. This was most likely due to passengers still boarding at 10.25am due to the tight boarding time given for all passengers to descend to the platform.

Kuala Lumpur Railway Station

Making a brief stop at Kuala Lumpur Railway Station.

My ETS Express 9006up departed from Kuala Lumpur Railway Station on time at 10.30am.

The next stop after Kuala Lumpur is Ipoh.

Passing by Simpang Batu.

It was a non-stop uneventful ride from here on to Ipoh, passing through all stations. After filming passing through some major stations, it was time to have a walkabout around the train.

Toilets

The toilet closest to my seat is at Coach E, just after the gangway.

There is also a wheelchair-accessible toilet located at Coach D. However, the manual operation of doors doesn’t make it very accessible.

Surau

A Surau is located at Coach C.

ETS Bistro

A Bistro is located at Coach C, selling food and drinks.

The menu of the ETS Bistro.

A variety of microwaved meals are available.

For this brunch on board ETS Express 9006up, I ordered a Nasi Goreng Satay ETS (RM12) and a hot Nescafe (RM3).

I had hoped that the Nasi Goreng Satay ETS (RM12) would have been a signature dish of sorts, since it had the ETS name in it, but unfortunately it tasted weird. Much of the meal tasted rubbery and the satay wasn’t even visible while swimming in the watery peanut sauce. There are 2 thin sticks of satay in the peanut sauce, with a stick in it, which is a choking hazard.

Some parts of the fried rice were also still cold, unevenly fried as seen from the whites, and still in clumps.

The hot Nescafe (RM3) was instant and came from the packet.

Along the way, the ETS Express 9006up manages to achieve speeds of up to 140km/h on certain short stretches.

Arriving at Ipoh Railway Station.

Ipoh Railway Station

My ETS Express 9006up arrived at Ipoh Railway Station at 12.29pm – 4 minutes delayed. This unfortunately makes this non-stop journey 2 hours and 4 minutes, instead of only 2 hours as advertised.

There was quite a queue to exit from the platform as the entire train load of passengers had to scan out of the paid area through only 2 Automated Control Gates (ACG). Thankfully, a few minutes after, the station staff opened the Komuter section for passengers to scan out as well.

Scanning out of the Automated Control Gate (ACG).

The concourse of Ipoh Railway Station.

There is also a Chinese New Year 2024 decorative arch at the driveway entrance of Ipoh Railway Station.

Conclusion

The ETS Express 9006up is a tad boring for a railway fan with the train just zooming with no stops along the way, but for a commute, this is quite useful to travel from KL to Ipoh in just 2 hours. The schedule of ETS Express 9006up also arrives in Ipoh just in time for lunch, offering a time-effective service.

For now, the ETS Express 9006up only operates for the pre-Chinese New Year 2024 season, but Minister of Transport YB Anthony Loke has said that he would be discussing with KTM on providing one or two express services a day for the route in future.