Transport Minister Anthony Loke said there was no downsizing of scope in the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project even though its construction cost was brought down from RM65.5 billion to RM44 billion. He said only the Kota Bharu-Wakaf Bharu-Pengkalan Kubor alignment was not implemented as it would not significantly increase the value of the current railway transport network.

He added the stations cancelled were Bentong, Gombak North, Gombak Integrated Terminal, Telaga Papan, Jelawat, Pengkalan Kubor and Wakaf Bahru.

“The new stations identified are Bangi/Kajang, Putrajaya Sentral, Port Klang as well as some new stations proposed in Selangor and Negeri Sembilan.”

“As such, there will be no downsizing of scope implemented for the project,” he was replying a question by Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong (BN-Ayer Hitam) on whether the cost reduction meant a downsizing of scope for the project in Parliament today.

Commenting further, Loke said a reduction of RM21.5 billion was achieved through a series of reviews on engineering and value engineering on the overall aspects in the implementation of the project.

A technical study was conducted with the project owner appointed by the government, Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd and China Communications Construction Company Ltd (CCCC).