Malaysia is finalising amendments to its rail transport law to increase fines for trespassing and stealing cables from national rail facilities to as much as RM100,000, up from the current RM1,000 fine, Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Hasbi Habibollah said on August 3 in the Dewan Negara [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. He announced the government’s plan alongside security enhancements, including installing 1,146 CCTV cameras along the railway line stretching from Johor to northern Peninsular Malaysia and acquiring 20 scrambler motorcycles for KTMB Auxiliary Police 24-hour patrols [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].
Cable theft has caused an estimated RM50 million in losses across Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB), Prasarana Malaysia Berhad, and the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project, with 71 cable theft cases at the ECRL alone resulting in RM4.06 million in damages, according to official figures [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. In addition, 13 cases of theft and damage to equipment and materials along the ECRL caused RM0.69 million in losses. While the ECRL is still under construction and unaffected in terms of passenger disruption, the theft incidents could delay installation, testing, commissioning, and operational preparations [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].
Beyond technological measures, authorities are closing high-security manholes and deploying sniffer dogs (K9 units) to strengthen security further [1, 3, 4, 5]. Datuk Hasbi said, "We will amend this law to reach RM100,000 for each offence... currently in the process and God willing, perhaps by the end of this year in the next session, a stricter amendment to the law will be brought to this House" [1].
The stricter rail law amendments are expected to be tabled in the next parliamentary session, likely by the end of 2026 [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].
