ECRL project sees 60 pct completed in progress

KUALA LUMPUR, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Construction of the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), a mega rail project in Malaysia being built by the China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) has completed 60 percent of the project in progress.

Malaysia Rail Link Chief Executive Officer Darwis Abdul Razak told reporters late on Sunday that the rail project had seen its greatest progress in Kelantan state, with 75.8 percent of the works having been completed.

"The ECRL project in Kelantan covering 43 kilometers involves the construction of two stations, namely a passenger station in Kota Bharu and a passenger and cargo station in Pasir Puteh," he said.

"The ECRL line from Kota Baru to the Integrated Transport Terminal (ITT) in Gombak (Selangor state) is expected to be completed according to schedule in December 2026 and will commence operations in January 2027, while the ECRL line from Gombak to Port Klang is expected to be completed by December 2027," he said.

Darwis added that three tunnel breakthroughs had recently been achieved for the ECRL, bringing the total number of tunnel breakthroughs to 30.

A major infrastructure project under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the ECRL runs from Malaysia's largest transport hub Port Klang and travels across the peninsula to Kelantan state in northeastern Malaysia.