This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on August 31, 2026 – September 6, 2026
Since it was corporatised in 1992, Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd (KTMB) has only seen limited years of profitability and still relies on the government to subsidise its operations due to its role as a public service provider.
In more recent times, after two years of profitability in the financial years ended Dec 31, 2023 (FY2023) and FY2024, KTMB slipped back into the red last year.
In an exclusive interview with The Edge, group CEO Datuk Azlan Shah Al Bakri delves into not only the challenges KTMB faces, but also the opportunities available.
The Edge: You took the helm at KTMB on Jan 12. How has it been so far?
Datuk Azlan Shah Al Bakri: I’m almost eight months in. I’ve got another 16 months to go.
With the support of the staff and the guidance to stay focused, we’ve put in place a plan that needs to be followed through. I think we’ll be able to steer KTMB onto the right path.
At the end of the day, I will be measured against what I’ve delivered. That’s why we’re working very hard to make sure that, within the next two years, the numbers are attractive enough for us to tell the government: Look, these are the numbers that we have put in place. Whoever takes over the position then will have plans that need to be followed through to make sure that KTMB is sustainable for the future. That’s my plan. Nobody is indispensable.
I’m here to show some results. That’s my intention. It’s a tough job, yes. Not many people would want to take the position. I take it as a challenge to see how we can steer the company with the current staff that we have, who are seasoned and experienced.
A leader must not release the accelerator. The accelerator must always be pressed, and progress must be monitored. Once you release it, that’s when you lose focus. That must not be the case for any leader.
That’s how I look at it. I’m here to ensure that cost control measures are strengthened, revenue is increased, productivity is increased and the funding gap is narrowed, while recognising that there are some dependencies that need to be addressed.
Cash flow must be positive so that we are bankable. At the moment, we are not bankable. We must become bankable for us to expand our business further.
What were your thoughts when the government first offered you the job?
I was uncertain. It was either you do it or you die, as they say, in terms of your career. But I took it. I took it as a challenge, so no one can question me. At least I took up the challenge.
It gives me personal satisfaction to see positive numbers coming in. That’s my satisfaction, and I hope that is also shared by our staff.
In fact, what I did for the staff was also to strengthen our internal communication. I shared the first half 2026 (1H2026) numbers with them. I also shared the 1H2026 numbers with the board members, which include representatives from the Ministry of Finance and others. The Ministry of Transport (MOT) tracks me on a weekly basis. I have to present my numbers, in terms of on-time performance (OTP) and ridership, to the minister himself every week.
On a monthly basis, I share our cargo numbers as well. I also share our first- and second-half numbers. So we are being tracked.
And the same goes for my staff. I track them as well.
Do you think a national railway company can be profitable or is it a company that is only meant to serve a public-service function?
To make money, in any business, fares must be deregulated. If you regulate fares, you can’t make money. For example, the government regulates fares for stage buses, so it has to provide subsidies to stage bus operators. The same goes for our KTM Komuter. The government regulates the fares, so we cannot make money from it. The government needs to subsidise it, and that’s how it is.
But yes, we can still make money and become a profitable organisation. There are two segments where fares have been deregulated — the ETS (electric train service), where we are making money, and cargo, where I’m working very hard to ensure that we make money.
With the right number of locomotives and volume, we’ll be able to make money.
At the moment, there are some dependencies that require government support for us to have enough capacity to make money overall. One of them is addressing the corporate loan that was taken in the 1990s, as well as increasing our non-fare revenue. These are two dependencies that need to be addressed for us to tell the government that the funding gap can be reduced in phases.
The Railway Assets Corp (RAC) owns and manages Malaysia’s rail infrastructure, while KTMB operates the trains. Critics say that over the years, the RAC has been more interested in doing deals of railway reserve land and space leasing at the stations, instead of cooperating with KTMB in conducting maintenance and purchasing new assets to improve the quality of KTMB service. Do you agree?
To be fair to RAC, as far as the leasing of locomotives is concerned, RAC helps us because we are leasing from RAC. Also, to be fair to RAC, procuring train sets is not easy. It takes two years to place an order and for the suppliers to deliver train sets to us. And then it takes another year or two for the government to allocate money to procure. That is done through MOT.
We work together closely [with] RAC so that we’ll be able to be sustainable. At the same time, we do also need RAC’s help to support us where they can to make sure that we’ll be able to deliver the numbers, results and outcome as far as we’re concerned.
With 44 cargo trains, what kind of revenue and profit do you expect KTMB to generate?
With seven cargo trains now, I aim to do about RM1 billion in total revenue. With about 40, I think I can grow that to about RM3 billion to RM5 billion. That’s the target.
But that has got to be achieved over a two- or three-year programme.
Read also:
Cover Story: Full steam ahead for KTMB’s turnaround plans
Cover Story: Target completion of KVDT2 unchanged at 4Q2027
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