Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook (centre) inspected the aerotrain on Monday. He said an ongoing shuttle bus service, which was introduced as a temporary replacement for the aerotrain, will remain available as an option for passengers due to high volume of traffic. (Photo by Shahrill Basri/The Edge)

KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 2): The Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) aerotrain, which links the satellite buildings with the main airport terminal, is expected to resume operations by Jan 31, 2025.

This timeline is contingent on the successful completion of all necessary commissioning and testing, according to Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook.

"Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd or MAHB (KL:AIRPORT) received two of the three train sets last week, with the third set anticipated to be delivered by October," Loke told reporters after inspecting the aerotrain on Monday.

He explained that the two train sets are currently undergoing static and dynamic testing, a process expected to take at least four months, before they can be handed over to the Land Public Transport Agency (APAD) for final testing.

"We expect the aerotrain to be passed to the APAD by mid-January, and if everything goes according to schedule, it can be operational by the end of January," Loke said.

Operations of the 25-year-old aerotrain were suspended in March 2023, after a major breakdown that stranded 114 passengers midway on the track.

This occurred midway through a replacement programme, which was awarded to Pestech International Bhd (KL:PESTECH) in December 2021, with French rolling stock manufacturer Alstom supplying the aerotrain.

The three-year aerotrain replacement project initially had two deadlines — July 2024 for the first aerotrain to be operational, followed by March 2025 for full completion, with both aerotrain services spanning about 1.5 km coming online.

In August 2023, MAHB decided to terminate Pestech, citing “non-performance, compromising significant project milestones, and risking delays in delivering the project within the required deadline” as the reasons.

However, in January 2024, MAHB reached an agreement with a consortium involving subsidiaries of Alstom, Pestech and IJM Corp Bhd (KL:IJM) to resume the project, targeting completion by March 31, 2025.

To expedite the project timeline, MAHB signed a new agreement with Alstom on June 14, 2024, to ensure the project's completion by Jan 31, 2025.

On Monday, Loke told reportes that the plan is for both train sets, each with a capacity of 270 passengers, to be operational concurrently, the minister said.

"Both train sets will be in operation, with the third set serving as a backup," Loke noted.

He added that an ongoing shuttle bus service, which was introduced as a temporary replacement for the aerotrain, will remain available as an option for passengers due to high volume of traffic.

Last week, it was reported that IJM Corp's proposed acquisition of a 44.83% stake in Pestech for RM124 million cash had fallen through.

However, Pestech emphasised that the termination of the agreement does not affect the existing joint venture with IJM Corp for the aerotrain project at KLIA.