ECRL work progress at 79.8% in Kelantan as of May, Parliament told

• The Ministry of Transport said that for the bridge structures, 428 out of 468 beam launching spans had been installed on the main line, and construction work for both stations in Kelantan had also started.

KUALA LUMPUR (July 11): Work progress of the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project in Kelantan had reached 79.81% as of May, according to the Ministry of Transport (MOT).

The MOT said that for the bridge structures, 428 out of 468 beam launching spans had been installed on the main line, and construction work for both stations in Kelantan had also started.

"In addition, track installation work in Kelantan is expected to begin in the fourth quarter using a track laying machine," the ministry said on the Parliament website on Wednesday, in a written reply to a question from Datuk Dr Nik Muhammad Zawawi Salleh (Perikatan Nasional-Pasir Puteh), who wanted to know the status of the ECRL project, especially for Kelantan, and what is the plan to ensure an economic spillover to the local population when the ECRL starts operating later.

The 665km project is a rail infrastructure that will connect the states on the East Coast with the West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, namely Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and Selangor.

As of May, the overall work progress stood at 67.09%.

The MOT said PLANMalaysia, through the ECRL Integrated Land Use Master Plan, will map out land use development along the ECRL alignment and around the stations, including the development of the Economic Accelerator Projects.

"The detailed proposed plan in the master plan for Kelantan involves two ECRL stations, namely the Kota Bharu and Pasir Puteh stations.

"Among the main proposals for the ECRL stations in Kelantan are the development of Bandar Baru Tunjong, which is a new township in the Ketereh area, while in Pasir Puteh is the proposed development of a logistics hub as well as a proposed land port in Bandar Baru Tok Bali, which will strengthen the Pasir Puteh station as a cargo hub for Kelantan and northern Terengganu," according to the MOT.

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