Operator dismisses 'speculative and unverified' ticket prices for Malaysian rail link
- Published on June 22, 2026 at 08:04
- 2 min read
- By Najmi MAMAT, AFP Malaysia
Fares for Malaysia's long-awaited East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) have not yet been announced, contrary to social media posts sharing a graphic they claim shows ticket prices for stops on the route. The railway's operator says prices circulating online are "speculative and unverified" and do not show the actual fares that will be imposed when the rail link opens in January 2027. The graphic accompanying the posts also contains spelling mistakes and lists purported destinations that are not part of the rail network.
The purported list of ticket prices for the ECRL was shared as a Facebook graphic on June 15, 2026.
"ECRL ticket prices from Gombak station," says text on the graphic, referring to a station on the new rail line.
Its Malay-language caption reads: "Get ready all. Let's travel to Kuala Lumpur and take the ECRL on January 1, 2027."
Similar posts sharing the same graphic circulated elsewhere on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
"Wow, the price is out now," says a comment on one of the posts, while another says: "Because the Gombak station is just five minutes from our house, we can plan some activities. Who wants to join?"
The 665-kilometre (413-mile) ECRL will connect Malaysia's underdeveloped east coast states to the Klang Valley economic hub (archived link).
According to the link's operator Malaysia Rail Link (MRL), the project was 94 percent complete as of May and was scheduled to enter the testing and commissioning phase before it starts operations in January 2027 (archived link).
But as of June 22, ticket prices have not been officially disclosed.
A keyword search on Google led to a statement addressing the claim, which was posted on the MRL's official Facebook page on June 16 (archived link).
The operator described the purported prices as "speculative and unverified information".
"Any fare rates currently circulating on social media are speculative and do not reflect the actual charges that will be imposed when the service begins operations next January," it said, adding that official fares would be announced by Malaysia's Ministry of Transport after the assessment and approval process is finalised.
A closer look at the graphic that accompanied the false posts shows that some of the stations in the list are spelt incorrectly, while other stations are not stops on the route (archived link).
An analysis of the image using Google's SynthID Detector determined with a "very high" degree of confidence that it was created using the company's AI tools (archived link).
AFP has previously debunked similar false claims from Malaysia relying on doctored or fabricated graphics.
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