Sabah State Railway
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sabah State Railway (SSR) is the only railway currently on the island of Borneo. It is located in the Malaysian state of Sabah, and consists of a single 134km line from Tanjung Aru, near Kota Kinabalu, to the town on Tenom, in the interior.
Contents |
[edit] The railway today
The current operational railway is used for its entire length to carry both passengers and freight. The route consists of a single track metre gauge non-electrified line.
Passenger services are run using two-car DMU (Diesel Multiple Unit) sets from 1970. These have a single-class seating structure and are non-air conditioned. SSR also has standard passenger cars which can be connected to freight trains. These too are single class non a/c. At present there are three passenger carrying trains daily (except Sundays) in each direction running the full length of the route, one from Beaufort to Tenom, and another from Beaufort running as far as Halogilat. There is reduced service on Sundays. One of the trains running the full length route is a mix of freight and passenger service.
Freight trains are hauled by Hitachi or Kawasaki diesel locos, which were introduced at the beginning of the 1970's to replace earlier steam units. These units are less powerful than those used by KTM in peninsular Malaysia, with the various models being rated between 320hp and 580hp.
Operating speeds on the line are low, due to the nature of the terrain and the use of relatively low powered equipment. Passenger services take 4 hours to complete 134km journey from Tg. Aru to Tenom, allowing for stops on the way. Also the line can be hazardous, with mudslides in rainy whether a real threat which can lead to the service being disrupted or suspended for brief periods.
Recently, the federal government charged KTM to work alongside SSR to undertake short and medium term works on the railway to enhance its safety. This included rehabilitating the track and signalling and also overhaul of the rolling stock in order to ensure continuation of service.
[edit] History
Construction of the then North Borneo Railway was started in 1896 under the command of Civil Engineer Arthur J West, and was originally intended primarily for the transport of tobacco from the interior to the coast for export. The first line built was a 32km track from Beaufort to the port of Weston. This was then extended with a further 48km route in 1903 to Tenom, the works for which was completed in 1905, and extend again in 1906 with a further 16km to Melalap.
At the same time as this work, was work on another line from Beaufort to Kota Kinabalu (then Jesselton) which was completed in 1903, running mostly near or beside the coast. With the completion of these works the network routes covered some 193km. However the network was almost entirely destroyed during the Second World War.
In 1949 then North Borneo Railway embarked on an ambitious programme to rehabilitate the network and improve service, and once again in 1960. However in 1963 the decision was taken to close the Weston branch line, and in 1970 the Menalap extension from Tenom was also closed to traffic. The high costs of operation of the lesser used routes and the competition from the many new built roads made their situation increasingly untenable. In 1974 the main part of the line was also cut from Kota Kinabalu back to Tanjung Aru.
[edit] Administrative aspects
The railway is now operated by Sabah State Railway, which is an arm of the Sabah state administration.
Current rehabilitation work on the railway is however being handled jointly by SSR along with Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM), the corporatised (but wholly federal government owned) railway operator for the railway network in peninsular Malaysia. Despite this, SSR is still operationally and administratively completely separate from KTM, and uses different operational equipment.
[edit] The future
As already stated, at present the railway is currently undergoing rehabilitation. This is both a short term measure to ensure continued operation, and a medium term one to improve operational safety and to somewhat modernise the system. A possible reinstatement of the Tanjung Aru to Kota Kinbalu part of the route has been considered, although it is not yet known whether or not this will be given approval.
The future of the railway has also been brightened by the increasing use of it by tourists. The Beaufort - Tenom stretch of track runs through the Padas River gorge and is regarded as incredibly scenic. In addition the railway itself is something of an attraction to some, and a historic North Borneo Railway tourist train is operated by SSR especially to capture this market. With the growth of Sabah as a "light adventure" destination, the use of the railway by tourist traffic is quite likely to increase.
