Railway

Rail transport in Malaysia consists of heavy rail, light rapid transit (LRT), mass rapid transit (MRT), monorails, airport rail links and a funicular railway line. Heavy rail is mostly used for intercity passenger and freight transport as well as some urban public transport, while rapid transit is used for intra-city urban public transport in Kuala Lumpur, the national capital, and the surrounding Klang Valley region. There are two airport rail link systems linking Kuala Lumpur with the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport. The longest monorail line in the country is also used for public transport in Kuala Lumpur, while the only funicular railway line is in Penang.

The railway network covers most of the 11 states in Peninsular Malaysia. In East Malaysia, only the state of Sabah has railways. The network is also connected to the Thai railway 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) network in the north. If the Burma Railway is rebuilt, services to Myanmar, India, and China could be initiated.

The intercity railway network in Peninsular Malaysia consists of two main lines: The KTM West Coast Line between Singapore and Padang Besar, Perlis, on the Malaysian-Thai border, and the KTM East Coast Line between Gemas in Negeri Sembilan and Tumpat in Kelantan. There are also several branch lines – between Kuala Lumpur and Port Klang, Batu Junction and Batu Caves, Bukit Mertajam and Butterworth, Kempas and Tanjung Pelepas, and Kempas and Pasir Gudang. The entire 1,699 km network uses 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge tracks. The network uses a ballasted setup with locally manufactured concrete sleepers.

The network is linked with the Thai railway network at Padang Besar.

A total of 438 km of the network is double-tracked and electrified. They include portions of the West Coast Line between Gemas and Padang Besar and the entire Port Klang branch line as well as Batu Caves branch line. The double-tracked and electrified portions between Tanjung Malim and Pulau Sebang/Tampin, and between Padang Besar and Padang Rengas, as well as the Port Klang, Batu Caves and Butterworth branch lines are used for commuter rail services.

Sabah

The Sabah State Railway.

There is a 134 km (83 mi) railway line linking Tanjung Aru near Kota Kinabalu and Tenom in the interior of Sabah state. The line is the only railway on the island of Borneo. Normal passenger trains operated by the Sabah State Railway Department. The line has been suffering from lack of maintenance for many years and in 2006, the Malaysian Government funded rehabilitation works for the line. A pipe dream is to have a railway line from Kota Kinabalu to Kuching through Brunei though the cost of this would mean seeking funding from Brunei.

Ekspres Rail Link (ERL)

One of Malaysia's two fastest rail lines is the 57 km (35 mi) standard gauge airport rail link between Kuala Lumpur and the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.  This line may not be considered a high speed line because the maximum speed used is 160 km/h (99 mph). The line was constructed by Express Rail Link, which also operates the two train services which use the line, namely the KLIA Ekspres and KLIA Transit.

Light Rapid Transit (LRT)

Rapid KL Sri Petaling Line

There are currently two operational light rail systems in Malaysia. One is used as the major public transport system in the Klang Valley, while another acts as a automated people mover at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport to ferry passengers from the Main Terminal Building and the satellite building.

The LRT system in the Klang valley consist of three LRT lines which are the Kelana Jaya Line, the Ampang Line and Sri Petaling Line. The Kelana Jaya Line is a driver-less automatic system and is 46.4 km (29 mi) long, running between the northeastern suburbs of Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya to the west of Kuala Lumpur, and south towards Subang Jaya. It is mostly elevated except for a 4 km (2.5 mi) stretch where it goes underground and a short at-grade stretch in the north. The Kelana Jaya Line was completely operational from June 1999. The older Ampang Line and Sri Petaling Line share a common track between the suburb of Sentul in the north of Kuala Lumpur and Chan Sow Lin in the central region, before branching out to their respective termini. The 15 km (9 mi) Ampang Line travels to Ampang in the east and the 37.6 km (23 mi) Sri Petaling Line travels towards southern Kuala Lumpur and onwards to Puchong. The system is mostly a mixture of at-grade and elevated tracks outside the city, and is completely elevated with it runs through the city. Both lines were completely opened in 1998. The Kelana Jaya Line and the Sri Petaling Line both terminate at Putra Heights.