Background
Express Rail Link Sdn. Bhd. (ERL) is a joint venture company between YTL Corporation Bhd., Lembaga Tabung Haji and Trisilco Equity Sdn. Bhd. with each partner holding 50%, 40% and 10% of the company respectively. On the 25th of August 1997, the Malaysian government presented the company with a 30 year concession to finance, build, maintain and control the operations of the railway.
Construction began in May 1997 and was completed 5 years later. It was then handed over to SYZ consortium, a joint relations consortium between German and Malaysian companies consisting of Siemens AG, Siemens Electric Engineering Sdn. Bhd and Syarikat Pembenaan Yeoh Tiong Lay Sdn. Bhd (SPYTL), a wholly owned subsidiary of YTL Corporation Bhd.
ERL Maintenance and Support was set up in 1999 and is responsible for the operations and maintenance of trains owned by ERL. The company was initially a joint venture between Express Rail Link Sdn. Bhd. and Siemens AG, but since June 2005 it has been wholly owned by Express Rail Link Sdn. Bhd.
The 1997 financial crisis that hit Asia caused a brief setback to the project but due to strong governmental support, the project went on to completion. The project raked up a cost of RM2.4 billion which was financed through equity mergers (RM500 million), loans from Development and Infrastructure Bank of Malaysia (RM940 million) and the remainder through import credit from four German financial institutions.
Express Rail Link Sdn. Bhd. achieved profits in 2003 after only a year of operations.
Read more about this topic: Express Rail Link
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