ECRL Back On Track, Alignment Shortened By 4OKm

By Amirul Mohd Sajadi BEIJING, April 12 (Bernama) -- The East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project is back on track, with its new alignment shortened by 40 kilometres (km) from 688km to 648km, the Prime Minister’s special envoy Daim Zainuddin said. He said however, the double track is still maintained as in the original agreement. Daim, who is also Council of Eminent Persons chairman, said the new deal saw the costs reduced from RM98 million to RM68 million per km. “Several stations are scrapped from the construction. They include Gombak, but the new alignment will a new station in Jelebu, Negeri Sembilan,” he told the Malaysian media at the Malaysian Embassy here Friday. Earlier, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) announced that the construction cost for Phases 1 and 2 of the ECRL has now been slashed to RM44 billion, a reduction of RM21.5 billion from its original cost of RM65.5 billion. It said this followed the signing of a supplementary agreement between Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd and China Communications Construction Company Ltd. The 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 ECRL will link Port Klang in Selangor to Pengkalan Kubor in Kelantan. -- BERNAMA