The East Coast Rail Link (ECRL, ) is an under-construction higher-speed double-track railway project connecting Port Klang on the Straits of Malacca to Kota Bharu in northeast Peninsular Malaysia, linking the East Coast Economic Region states of Pahang, Terengganu, and Kelantan to one another and to the central region of the peninsula's west coast.
The project is set to carry both passengers and freight from the west coast of Malaysia to the east, and vice versa. Construction began in August 2017.
On 3 July 2018, Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd (MRL) instructed China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) to suspend all work under the engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning contract of ECRL. The suspension was lifted a few months later after the signing of a supplementary agreement between MRL and CCCC in April 2019 on a revised construction cost and realignment of the southern route of the rail link.
ECRL is realized by a semi-automatic Chinese technology that lays 1.5 km of tracks a day with an accuracy of 10 millimeters using GPS satellites. (with video)
Project proposal Infrastructure The project provides for the double tracking and standard gauge railway line. The infrastructure includes spur lines, tunnels, bridges, viaducts, depots, stations and a signalling system.
Board of directors Chairman: Mohammad Zuki Ali Director: Fauzi Abdul Rahman
Services According to the first realignment, the inter-city passenger trains will use 6 car-train sets for EMUs travelling at 160 km per hour, cutting travel time from Kota Bharu to Gombak and Port Klang to around four and six hours respectively. The freight (cargo) trains use electric locomotives running at 80 km per hour.
Meanwhile, for international freight service from China to Europe via Malaysia, the original alignment of ECRL is expected to help reduce the shipping time by as much as 30 hours.
Route and stations [
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Original alignment Phase 1 The proposed alignment for Phase 1 of the railway features 22 stations running along a 600.3 km route. The new rail link is projected to connect passengers from Kota Bharu in Kelantan to ITT Gombak in Selangor in less than four hours.
It will start north of Kuala Lumpur at the Integrated Transport Terminal Gombak (ITT Gombak), the future interchange with the Kelana Jaya Line and main long-distance bus terminal. From the Klang Valley the line will run east through the state of Pahang, serving the towns of Bentong, Mentakab, Maran and Gambang, KotaSAS before reaching the state capital, Kuantan where there will be two stations namely Kuantan Port City 2 (freight) and Kuantan Port City 1 (passenger).
From Kuantan, the line will turn north to Cherating before entering the state of Terengganu, where it will serve the towns of Chukai, Kemasik, Kerteh (Provisional), Dungun, Pengkalan Berangan, state capital Kuala Terengganu as well as via Telaga Papan and Kampung Raja area.
The ECRL will continue north into Kelantan, serving stations at Tok Bali and Jelawat, before ending at Kota Bharu.
The rail link includes a total of 50 km of tunnelling and underground alignment. The tunnelling works will be carried out along the Gombak-Bentong area where the single-longest twin hill-tunnel spanning 18 km will be built under the Titiwangsa Mountains. There will also be several underground lines, including in the heavily populated Gombak area near the Kuala Lumpur city centre.
Phase 2 Phase 2 of ECRL will have an estimated length of 88 km. This phase will cover the stretch from Gombak North to Port Klang () through and two more future stations located at Puncak Alam and Kapar. As well, a further extension between Kota Bharu and Pengkalan Kubor will also be built. The cost of construction for this section of the ECRL is RM9 billion. With Phase 1 and Phase 2 combined, the total length of the entire line is about 688 km and the construction cost amounting to RM55 billion.
First realignment Due to the change of government in 2018, the new Pakatan Harapan government initially planned to cancel the project but instead decided to realign the route especially on the Section C between Port Klang and Mentakab, Pahang. This realignment would add extra two hours of travelling time between Kota Bharu to Port Klang from the original four hours to six hours.
Below are the new changes made due to the realignment. Double tracking from Port Klang to Kota Bharu bypass Gombak and Bentong. Standard gauges were used and the maximum speed for passenger is 160 km/h and for freight is 80 km/h. The number of stations reduced to 20 and these stations had been removed from list: Pengkalan Kubor, Tumpat Wakaf Bharu, Tumpat Jelawat, Bachok Telaga Papan, Setiu Kerteh, Kemaman Kuantan Sentral, Paya Besar Bentong Gombak North, Gombak ITT Gombak, Kuala Lumpur Serendah, Hulu Selangor Puncak Alam, Kuala Selangor Kapar, Klang Northport, Klang
and the following stations were shifted to another place or new stations: Kota Bharu station will be located near Kampung Tunjong, passed through Melor town and portion of Bachok District land, and then will reached Pasir Puteh station and go ahead to Jerteh station via tunnel. Kuala Terengganu station, formerly situated at Kuala Nerus, was shifted to Marang District near Wakaf Tapai. Pengkalan Berangan station which formerly situated at Marang south was shifted to Marang west, making it nearer Marang town, and become a proposed station. Temerloh station will be integrated with current KTMB Mentakab via spur line. Klawang station will be located at Kampung Seperi, Kuala Klawang, Negeri Sembilan Nilai Sentral station will be integrated with new KTMB komuter station. Putrajaya Sentral station will be integrated with the current station via spur line, the section at Putrajaya will be elevated and pass Presint 14, 1 and 9. Jenjarom station which is located at oil palm area. Westport station, as a terminal freight station at Pulau Indah
The estimated date of completion was also extended for more than two years to the end of December 2026, compared to the originally targeted date of June 2024.
Second realignment Due to another change of government from Pakatan Harapan to Perikatan Nasional in 2020, the Perikatan Nasional government is planning to revert the ECRL route back to its original alignment.
In March 2021, the second realignment is confirmed with the reversion of the alignment to its original alignment with added improvement by passing through Serendah and linking Port Klang with West and North Port. The decision was said to enable the construction of a meter gauge bypass line from Serendah to Port Klang for Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd (KTMB) to be included into the new ECRL alignment. Section C alignment from Serendah - Port Klang will be on dual gauge (MRL - , KTM - ). The bypass line will make the KTMB rail services more efficient as it serves as a significant freight relief line to the KTMB which currently faces bottlenecks when traversing Kuala Lumpur's central business district (CBD) and relieves the concerns for public safety as KTMB cargo containing hazardous materials need to go through KL Sentral, Bank Negara and several other stations due to the freight congestion.