ECRL more than 30% completed, says Dr Wee

PETALING JAYA: It would only take four hours to travel from Kelantan to Kuala Lumpur once the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) is completed, says Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.

The Transport Minister said currently the journey takes seven to eight hours, and added that the ECRL is 31.48% completed as of June.

On the High Speed Rail (HSR), the Transport Minister said the original plan for the link from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore was scrapped in January 2021.

"The Prime Minister then had a discussion with his counterpart in Singapore in November where they agreed for further discussions between both Transport Ministers to fine-tune the proposal, which was done in May this year.

"After a meeting between the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister of Thailand, there was a proposal to link the HSR from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok," said Dr Wee on his Facebook page.

Pontian MP Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan had asked in Parliament on Tuesday (July 19) what was the status of the ECRL, HSR, Pan Borneo, MRT and new highways to reduce traffic congestion.

Dr Wee said it was agreed in May that a special committee be formed between Malaysia and Thailand's Transport Ministries chaired by both secretaries-general to discuss planning, alignment and technical aspects of the project.

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"As a mega project, the Transport Ministry has to look at the development of the project on a bigger scale, which is a link to the mainland of Asean," he said.

On MRT2, Dr Wee said the project, which began in October 2015, will be completed in January. He said as of June, the MRT2 project stood at 98.4% completion.

He also said the Phase 1 Putrajaya link from Damansara Power Station to Kampung Batu at a distance of 17.5km began operations on June 16.

"This phase, which has 12 stations, is providing service to high-density areas such as Sungai Buloh, Damansara Damai and Sri Damansara in Petaling Jaya, Kepong, Jinjang and Kampung Batu in Kuala Lumpur," he said.

On the Pan Borneo Highway, Dr Wee said the toll reduction was under the jurisdiction of the Works Ministry.

"The project will not only improve the road connectivity of Sabah and Sarawak, but also to Brunei.

"The Works Ministry is presently carrying out discussions on restructuring with the concessionaires to find a solution on the toll rates," added Dr Wee.