KUALA LUMPUR: The Gemas-Johor Bahru electrified double-tracking rail project (Gemas-JB EDTP) is projected to be completed by 2025, according to Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook.
The Gemas-JB EDTP, billed as a catalyst for economic development in Johor's core region, is currently 92 per cent complete.
"This whole project needs time to complete as it has been delayed many times, especially due to Covid-19, but now it's on track.
"We hope this project can be completed as soon as possible so that it can connect Johor Bahru to Kuala Lumpur and all the way to Padang Besar," Loke said.
He reportedly said this at an event commemorating the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on strategic cooperation for the development of the Kluang Heritage Railway Linear Park in Johor.
YTL Construction, in consortium with SIPP Rail Sdn Bhd is undertaking the construction of the RM9.5 billion Gemas-JB EDTP.
The train project was supposed to be completed by October 2022.
It includes 192 kilometres of track and 11 stops. It will travel through four major districts in Johor, including Segamat, Kluang, Kulai, and Johor Bahru, before concluding at JB Sentral.
Trains would be able to travel from KL Sentral in Brickfields to JB Sentral in three hours and 30 minutes at a speed of 140 miles per hour.
The Gemas-JB EDTP is the final part of the present Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd (KTMB) network to be expanded from a single track to a double track. Once completed, the link would run from Peninsula Malaysia's southernmost tip all the way to Padang Besar on the Thai border.
It will also complement the current Electrified Train Service (ETS) that runs from Padang Besar to Gemas, boosting public transport even further.
Meanwhile, the MoU between the Railway Assets Corporation (RAC), the Kluang Municipal Council (MPK), SIPP-YTL JV, and Think City Sdn Bhd is to create the Kluang Heritage Railway Linear Park, which would include a recreational park built beneath the railway viaduct.
The park's construction has been gazetted in the MPK Local Plan 2030, which aims to improve the environment of the surrounding area by developing a green network and supporting low-carbon development.