MARAN: The construction of the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) mega-rail project involving four states, namely Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, and Selangor, is nearing the halfway mark.
Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd (MRL) chairman Tan Sri Mohd Zuki Ali said the project, scheduled to be completed in 2026, has reached a progress rate of 48.77 per cent so far.
"The ECRL project has achieved an overall completion rate of 48.77 percent currently, paving way for completion of the rail infrastructures between Kota Baru(Kelantan) to the Gombak Integrated Transport Terminal in December 2026. The ECRL train services will begin in January 2027.
"The first track laying process between a 90km stretch from Gebeng (Kuantan) to Dungun (Terengganu) is scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of this year. In terms of manpower, more than 21,000 workers are deployed at 1,600 construction sites along the alignment," he said in his speech during the 1.3km Kampung Gedung Siam 3 tunnel breakthrough ceremony near Sri Jaya here today.
The breakthrough of the single-bored Kampung Gedung Siam 3 tunnel with an average height of 13.47m marks the 25th and signals the completion of tunnel excavations at Section A (Kota Baru-Dungun) and Section B (Dungun-Mentakab).
Meanwhile, Zuki, who is the Chief Secretary to the Government, said the ECRL project will see the construction of 40 tunnels along its alignment from Kota Baru to Port Klang, with a length of more than 60km between Kota Baru and Port Klang, Selangor.
"The project which has successfully achieved 25 tunnel breakthroughs to date including 21 tunnels in Section A and Section B proves the ability of MRL and CCC-ECRL(China Communications Construction Sdn Bhd) to deal with the challenges in terms of engineering and deploying modern, and efficient tunnel technologies.
"The completion of ECRL's tunnel excavation works along Section B has given confidence that tunnel boring works in Section C(Mentakab- Port Klang) will also progress smoothly and according to schedule. Among the 19 tunnels designed in Section C, four tunnels, including the 793m long Kampung Temiang 1 Tunnel have achieved breakthroughs.
"Excavation works on the twin-bore Genting tunnel with two tunnel boring machines (TBM) from China is progressing according to schedule and is expected to achieve breakthrough in the second quarter of 2025. Upon completion, the 16.39km Genting tunnel will be the longest rail tunnel in Southeast Asia," he said.
He said apart from tunnel excavation works, the ECRL project has also achieved a significant milestone in terms of installing the long-span bridge that each has a length of 108m.
"The installation of long span bridges at five locations at Section A and Section B has been fully completed. Everything is progressing smoothly with the completion of critical works such as
tunnel excavation and installation of long span bridges in Section A and B while construction of the bridge beams(railway) is being carried out along the alignment," he said.
The 665km-long ECRL, which was initially launched in 2017 before it got back on track in 2019, will traverse the east coast states of Pahang, Kelantan and Terengganu through to the Klang Valley.
Also present were Transport Ministry secretary-general Datuk M. Jana Santhiran, Land Public Transport Agency (APAD) director-general Datuk Azlan Shah Al Bakri and MRL chief executive officer Datuk Seri Darwis Abdul Razak and CCC-ECRL managing director Kong Qi.