PUTRAJAYA, April 12 (NNN-BERNAMA) — The East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), which the Malaysian government had put on hold, will now be resumed at a reduced cost following the signing of a supplementary agreement (SA) between Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd (MRL) and China Communications Construction Company Ltd (CCCC).
The Prime Minister’s special envoy Tun Daim Zainuddin said the cost of the rail link has been reduced by a significant RM21.5 billion to RM44 billion from its original cost of RM65.5 billion.
The new ECRL project will now also have its alignment shortened by 40 kilometres (km) from 688km to 648km.
Daim, who was in Beijing to meet with representatives from China on the ECRL, said the double track plan will be still maintained as in the original agreement.
“Several stations are scrapped from the construction. They include Gombak, but the new alignment will have a new station in Jelebu, Negeri Sembilan,” Daim told the Malaysian media at the Malaysian Embassy here Friday.
In a statement earlier today, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) announced that the construction cost for Phases 1 and 2 of the ECRL has been reduced to RM44 billion, a reduction of RM21.5 billion from its original cost of RM65.5 billion.
“The government of Malaysia welcomes the signing of the SA, which covers the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) aspects of the rail project.
“The SA was achieved after months of negotiations between the companies involved, as well as the governments of Malaysia and China,” it said in the statement.
The PMO said the reduction will benefit Malaysia and lighten the burden on the country’s financial position.
The ECRL project was initiated by the previous Barisan Nasional government and was suspended last year by the newly-elected Pakatan Harapan government due to its high cost.
The proposed 688-kilometre ECRL, when completed, will link Port Klang in Selangor to Pengkalan Kubor in the east coast state of Kelantan.
–NNN-BERNAMA
