KTM Class 81

Class 81
A Class 81 EMU 14 Komuter train.
In service	1994 - Current
Manufacturer	Jenbacher Transport
Number built	54 cars (18 sets)
Formation	3 per trainset
Capacity	414 (224 seats)
Operators	Keretapi Tanah Melayu
Lines served	KTM Komuter
Specifications
Height	3.65 m (12 ft 0 in)
Maximum speed	160 km/h (99 mph) (Design) 120 km/h (75 mph) (Service)
Weight	121 tonnes (119 long tons; 133 short tons)
Electric system(s)	25 kV 50 Hz catenary
Track gauge	1

The Class 81 is the oldest and first type of electric multiple unit introduced by Keretapi Tanah Melayu for its KTM Komuter service. 18 sets were built by Jenbacher Transport and were delivered in stages. The class 81 currently operates in a fixed 3-car formation for its regular service. During the 1995-1999 period it used to operate at peak hours in a 3+3 car formation. But this configuration was soon discontinued. Briefly from 2009-2010, some of the train sets of this class were used in a hybrid diesel pull configuration in which an unpowered EMU would be towed by a diesel locomotive and while it gets electricity from an attached generator wagon.

The cars have features that resemble passenger carriages on existing intercity services, such as single-leaf doors, luggage racks and transverse seating. During the overhaul drive 2008, it was seen that a number of class 81's were refurbished such that there would be larger standing areas near the doors while enlarging the narrow bottle-necking corridors surrounding the doors. The Class 81 is now operated with a designated female coach at the middle (or second car) of the train set.

Description

The rolling stock consists of three versions of three-car EMUs added over the course of three years, beginning in 1994. The EMUs were the first in KTM's history. All Komuter EMUs operate in multiple-unit formation, running from overhead single-phase 25 kV AC 50 Hz catenary supply, with two driving cars and 1 - 3 trailer cars in between. The EMUs were state-of-the-art, with remote-controlled pneumatic doors, Automatic Train Protection (ATP), train data recorder, wheel-slip control, GTO/IGBT traction electronics and regenerative braking. Up to the point of their introduction no other KTM motive power used these modern train control systems.

Designated by KTM as "Class 8x"s, the EMUs wear a yellow, blue and grey livery, a departure from the predominantly grey livery that KTM adopted on other locomotives and passenger coaches at the time. A handful of EMUs include full advertisements on the sides of their cars.

The original Komuter fleet consisted of the following models:

• 18 Class 81 EMUs (designations EMU 01 to EMU 18) manufactured by Jenbacher Transport in Austria-Hungary (1994/1995)
• 22 Class 83 EMUs (designations EMU 19 to EMU 40) manufactured by Hyundai (HPID) (1996/1997)
• 22 Class 82 EMUs (designations EMU 41 to EMU 62) manufactured by Union Carriage & Wagon in South Africa (1996/1997)

Refurbishing

On late 2013, the Seremban-Gemas Electrified Double Tracking Project was completed. However, there were not enough ETS trainsets that can be used to serve the track. As a result, a few of the Class 81 has been refurbished with a new livery. One of the trainset that was refurbished was EMU 14. The middle coach has a surau in it. An LCD TV was also added to each end of the coach.

Gallery

• 
  The (modified—with walls cut open and additional handle bars) interior of a Class 81 EMU train.
• 
  A class 81 EMU 03 commuter train

See also

• British Rail Class 323