BENTONG: Making its way under the Titiwangsa Range are two state-of-the-art tunnel-boring machines (TBM) for the Genting Tunnel of the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project that will, upon completion, be the longest rail tunnel in Southeast Asia.
The twin-bore tunnels fall under the alignment of China Communications Construction Company (CCC) ECRL Project Section 7 which links Bentong, Pahang with Gombak, Selangor will see a total length of 16.39 kilometres with a maximum buried depth of 750 metres.
CCC ECRL Section 7 spokesperson, Thillakkumar Nair said that the tunnel had progressed to a distance of 3.6 kilometres since it began its excavation in June last year.
"Works on the tunnel began last June at the portal nestled in the hillsides near Bukit Tinggi, here, where it has now achieved a distance of 3.6 kilometres out of its total length of 16.39 kilometres.
"Section 7 of the ECRL project will also see subgrades (materials underneath a constructed rail road) with a total length of 19.24 kilometres, 23 bridges totalling 14.84 kilometres, and 12 tunnels with a total length 22.65 kilometres."
The Genting Tunnel is also unique as it not only traverses through several fault lines and chlorite rock pockets, but it is also being the first tunnel under the project to be bored by a TBM instead of the drill and blast method.
"The TBMs themselves are also custom-made for use in hard rock conditions and equipped with a drill face of almost 9 metres.
"The TBM weighs a massive 1,600 tonnes and measures 266 metres in length together with its back-support system that houses the control room and substation, making it among the largest TBMs for rail tunnel excavation in Malaysia," Thillakkumar said.
The twin-bore Genting Tunnel, which is expected to break through in 2025, will be one of the main components of the ECRL project as it completes the land bridge for the transportation of cargo from Kuantan Port to Port Klang, in addition to connecting passengers from the East Coast to Gombak.
The 665 kilometres long ECRL alignment which was launched in 2017 involves the construction of an electrified rail network linking the states of Kelantan, Terengganu, and Pahang with the Klang Valley.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook on Sept 19 told the Dewan Rakyat that the project has reached 52.9 per cent completion and is on track to be completed by 2027.
Loke said that the ECRL project from Kota Baru, Kelantan to Gombak is set to be completed on Dec 31, 2026, while the Gombak to Port Klang stretch is expected to be completed by Dec 31, 2027.