Malaysian Transport Minister Datuk Seri Wikasung announced that the route of the eastern section of the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) will be restored to its original design, centering around the north of Kuala Lumpur instead of the south of the capital.

The Malaysian press conference said: "The original route of Section C, which is also known as the northern route, will see the high-speed rail from Mintakabu via Bentong, Gombak and Seren to Daklang Port, and the southern route via Negeri Sembilan. ."

According to reports, this adjustment means that the production line will generally follow the route originally planned by the former prime minister, Mr. Najib Razak, when he launched the project in 2016. The latest route will be 201 kilometers long, with a branch line length of 32.4 kilometers, while the 185-kilometer branch line planned previously includes 41.5 kilometers.

ECRL 3.0

The entire line (now called ECRL 3.0) is 665 kilometers long and connects Kota Bharu and Port Klang. There will be a total of 7 stations on the northern line, 5 of which will be constructed in the first phase: Temerloh, Bentong, ITT Gombak, Serenda and Jalan Kastam in Port Klang. ECRL 3.0 includes three parts. Zone A is from Kota Baru in Kelantan to Dungun in Terengganu; from Dungun in Pahang to Zone B in Mentakab; Section C is from Mumbai (Mentakab) to Port Klang in Selangor (Selangor).

China Communications Construction Corporation (CCCC) received the project’s engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning contractors when the project first started, and is considered part of China’s One Belt One Road Initiative.

Former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad (Mahathir Mohamad) decided to withdraw from the infrastructure project supported by China for economic reasons. The construction of the project started in 2017 but was suspended in July 2018. However, the government announced in April 2019 that the project will resume construction after reaching an agreement with China to reduce the total cost of the project from 65.5 billion ringgit ($15.9 billion) to 44 billion ringgit.

Tunnel breakthrough

Despite delays caused by renegotiations between the Malaysian and Chinese governments and a nine-month delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the contractor completed the opening of the first of the 56 tunnels on this line on April 9. Digging, six months ahead of schedule.Editor/Huang Lijun