The Malaysian Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat, is discussing with ERL, operator of Kuala Lumpur's Airport Express, the planned extension of the rail service to the new Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT).

He is reported to have said that financial implications as well as the overall operation and technicalities needed to be studied.

Malaysia Airport Holdings, the airport authority, is to start construction of the RM2bn terminal in the middle of the year, for completion in 2011. It will be some 1.5km from the main terminal.

The Transport Minister said he was proud of ERL for its 99.7% punctuality record over the last 6 years.

This is all eminently sensible.

The present LCCT is very difficult to access from the main terminal and the train service. This leads to major congestion in parts of the city - in particular, at Sentral Station - as buses struggle to cope with demand. The new LCCT will have a capacity of 30 million passengers: a rail link is certainly justified.

Moreover, as the Minister said, ERL has clearly demonstrated its competence over the last six years of operation: KLIA Ekspres and its associated commuter operation have always shown excellence in their operations and their commercial policies.