PUTRAJAYA – The East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project will resume at a reduced cost following the signing of a supplementary agreement (SA) between Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd (MRL) and China Communications Construction Company Ltd (CCCC), the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) announced today.

It said the construction cost for Phases 1 and 2 of the ECRL has now been reduced to RM44 billion, a reduction of RM21.5 billion from its original cost of RM65.5 billion.

“The government of Malaysia welcomes the signing of the SA, which covers the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) aspects of the rail project.

“The SA was achieved after months of negotiations between the companies involved, as well as the governments of Malaysia and China,” it said in a statement today.

The PMO said the reduction will benefit Malaysia and lighten the burden on the country’s financial position.

The Prime Minister’s Special Envoy Tun Daim Zainuddin is in Beijing to meet with representatives from China on the ECRL.

The ECRL project was initiated by the previous Barisan Nasional government and was suspended last year by the newly-elected Pakatan Harapan government due to its high cost.

The proposed 688-kilometre ECRL, if built, will link Port Klang in Selangor to Pengkalan Kubor in Kelantan.

Daim, who is also Council of Eminent Persons chairman, said the new deal saw the costs reduced from RM98 million to RM68 million per km.

“Several stations are scrapped from the construction. They include Gombak, but the new alignment will a new station in Jelebu, Negeri Sembilan,” he told the Malaysian media at the Malaysian Embassy here Friday.

–Bernama