On July 30, Guangdong Intercity Railway Operation Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Guangzhou Metro Group, officially won the bid for the infrastructure maintenance project of the East Coast Railway in Malaysia. The project amount exceeds 900 million RMB, with a service period of 10 years.
On the same day, Guangdong Intercity Operation & Management (Malaysia) Co., Ltd. was officially inaugurated in Kuala Lumpur, becoming Guangzhou Metro’s first overseas legal entity and serving the Malaysia East Coast Railway operation and maintenance project.
The East Coast Railway is a landmark flagship project jointly built by China and Malaysia under the “Belt and Road Initiative.” It is also the largest land transportation infrastructure project in Malaysian history. The line is approximately 665 kilometers long, crossing the east and west coasts of the Malaysian Peninsula, connecting two core ports—Port Klang and Kuantan Port—and several important cities along the route, with a designed maximum operating speed of 160 km/h.
The main works of the entire line are scheduled to be completed in August 2026, after which joint commissioning and trial operation will be conducted. The railway is planned to commence phased commercial operations in January 2027, with the first section covering the core area from Kota Bharu to Gombak. Upon completion, the project will fully open up the east-west transportation artery of the Malaysian Peninsula, greatly reducing regional commuting and logistics times, driving industrial upgrading and improvement of people’s livelihoods in the East Coast Economic Belt, and benefiting millions of residents along the route.
This awarded project will provide full lifecycle maintenance services for the infrastructure of the East Coast Railway. Guangzhou Metro Group will deliver a package of operational support systems, comprehensively covering three core areas:
First, operational technical support—providing a mature set of standards for intercity railway train operation, dispatch command, safety control, and passenger services, ensuring comprehensive technical assurance for line opening preparations and regular operations;
Second, human resources training—establishing a localized talent cultivation mechanism to train professionals in train dispatching, maintenance technicians, operations management, etc., in Malaysia, achieving long-term retention of technical experience and independent growth of local teams;
Third, maintenance of equipment and facilities—establishing standardized management systems for the inspection, fault handling, and maintenance of infrastructure such as communications, signaling, power supply, subgrades, tracks, bridges and tunnels, and station buildings to ensure long-term safe and stable railway operation.
In recent years, Guangzhou Metro has successively launched several benchmark projects overseas, including the operation of the Lahore Orange Line Metro in Pakistan and the operation of a tram in western Colombia. Its overseas business covers the entire lifecycle chain including planning and design consulting, project management and system integration supervision, as well as operations and maintenance. The overseas presence covers multiple regions globally, such as Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas.