Loke denies knowledge of Trans Borneo Railway announcement, says feasibility study stage to start in May

SEPANG: A tender for a feasibility study on a possible railway project in Borneo will start in May, says Anthony Loke.

The Transport Minister also denied any knowledge of the Trans Borneo Railway proposal by a private company based in Brunei as was being widely speculated recently.

“The ministry will call for a feasibility study in May and it is expected to take about nine months to determine the commercial and technical aspects of the railway project.

“However, we are not aware of any announcement made by the private company (about the Trans Borneo Railway project),” he told reporters at Kuala Lumpur International Airport Terminal 2 Transportation Hub on Monday (April 1).

“We are in the process of a feasibility study, nothing more than that,” he added.

Loke also urged the public to fact-check any statements about such mega project as it will only be announced by the government and not by a private entity.

“If the private company is interested in doing the project, they should have engaged and get approval from the federal and state governments of Sabah and Sarawak first.

“But even the state governments had no idea about it,” he said.

A Brunei-based company, Brunergy Utama Sdn Bhd, had earlier this week announced it would be embarking on the Trans Borneo Railway project, which it proposed to be implemented in two phases involving routes spanning 1,620km.

The first phase would connect cities from the Borneo's West to the East coast, beginning in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, and ending in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah while the second phase would involve North East Kalimantan connecting the main route with Samarinda and to the new Indonesian capital Nusantara in Indonesia.

Earlier, Loke launched the new revamped Transportation Hub at KLIA Terminal 2 that was developed by a private company.

The new transportation hub will implement smart Artificial Intelligence (AI), revolutionising processes and security.