ECRL Will Continue - Loke Siew Fook

The federal government will continue the RM50 billion East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project, according to Loke Siew Fook, the minister of transportation.

Loke reportedly told Bernama that despite the recent general election and the change in government, continuing transportation projects like the ECRL will proceed.

The anticipated cost of the 59 tunnels and 665km of rail is RM50.27 billion. It will pass through Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, and Selangor, four states.


Photo credit: NST

After reporting for work earlier on his first day as transport minister, Loke added that he will be concentrating on a number of issues relating to public transportation, including digitising its service.

From May 2018 to February 2020, Loke served as the Pakatan Harapan government's transport minister. Dr. Mahathir Mohamad led the coalition.

When it came to power in 2018, the PH government had temporarily put an end to the ECRL project, which had started in August 2017. Work began again in 2019.

Loke had vowed that if PH took power, the project wouldn't be shelved during the most recent election campaign.

In May, Amanah leader Faiz Fadzil expressed scepticism about the anticipated number of customers and asserted that the ECRL was unlikely to be financially successful in the long run and might require government bailout.