Malaysia Rail Link could extend final stop of East Coast Rail Link from Kota Bharu to Sungai Golok: CEO

The East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) remains likely to have its line extended beyond the current final station at Kota Bharu, Kelantan to reach Sungai Golok according to Malaysia Rail Link CEO Datuk Seri Darwis Abdul Razak, reported The Edge.

A proposal to revive an existing rail line, between Pasir Mas in Kelantan and Sungai Golok that borders Malaysia and Thailand remains on the cards as the governments of Thailand and Malaysia have previously agreed to revive the rail line under KTMB. This line was damaged by flooding in 2006 and has been idle since.

“Instead of going to Pengkalan Kubor, [the ECRL can] go to Rantau Panjang (near Thailand’s border). Hopefully, it is part of the Pan Asian Railway from Kunming, China, to Singapore. Eventually, if we can cross over there, then all the way to Laos, Kunming, and all that. That is the hope,” Darwis said.

Extending the ECRL from Kota Bharu to Sungai Golok would bridge the gap in the corridor of the Singapore-Kunming Rail Link, which is also known as the Pan-Asian Railway Network, Malaysia Institute of Transport (MITRANS) director and Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) associate professor Dr Wan Mazlina Wan Mohamed has said previously.

As of end-May, the ECRL has been projected to reach 90% completion by this December and be fully complete by December 2026, however a spate of cable theft incidents has threatened to delay the planning and operational timeline.

Meanwhile, the first two electric multiple unit (EMU) trainsets and two electric locomotives are expected to be shipped from Dalian, China in October, for a possible arrival in Malaysia in November. The first EMU needs to undergo 8,000 km of testing, while the subsequent batch requires 5,000 km of testing, CRRC Dalian Locomotive & Rolling Stock VP Zhang Jian said.

Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.