KUCHING: A preliminary railway alignment has been proposed for the Trans-Borneo Railway project, which is now undergoing a feasibility study, the Sarawak Legislative Assembly heard.
State Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Dr Jerip Susil said the alignment will be further refined in the study, which is scheduled for completion in June next year.
"Since the study commenced in June 2025, two technical workshops have been conducted with our counterparts from Sabah's relevant agencies to review findings and coordinate planning.
"The first interim report was presented on Oct 30," he told Wilfred Yap (GPS-Kota Sentosa) during question time on Friday (Nov 28).
Dr Jerip said the study, led by the federal Transport Ministry, was also exploring the possibility of integrating the railway with the Kuching Urban Transportation System (KUTS) for seamless connections with local public transport.
"This integration is expected to improve accessibility within Greater Kuching and Kota Sentosa and enhance overall connectivity across the region," he said.
Dr Jerip also said KUTS was an initiative under the Sarawak Integrated Transport Master Plan to develop an efficient and sustainable transport system for the state.
"Under KUTS, the future plan for the Red Line includes an extension to 12th Mile Kuching-Serian Road, with additional expansions to be considered in subsequent phases," he said.
The Red Line is one of three Autonomous Rapid Transit (ART) lines being developed under the first phase of the KUTS project. It runs for about 12.3km from Kuching Sentral to Pending.
Besides the ART system, Dr Jerip said phase one of KUTS will introduce feeder bus services to enhance last-mile connectivity and improve public transport accessibility.
He also said transit signal priority features will be included at intersections along the ART lines.
"This will be centrally managed through an operations control centre to regulate traffic flow and ensure smoother ART and vehicle movement across the network," he said.
