A RM50 billion white elephant?

The Malaysian govt recently announced the realignment of the East Coast Railway Line (ECRL) connecting the east and west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. This will cost Malaysians RM50 billion in capex (and more billions in negative operational cash flows for years to come).

The BFM 89.9 - The Business Station interview with transportation consultant Dr Rosli Azad Khan further revealed that:

- ECRL is a single-track line. This means that trains have to stop at stations/sidings to let trains coming from the opposite direction through causing delays.

- The transhipment justification for creating a land bridge between Port Klang and Kuantan port is flimsy. No shipper would unload their cargo at Port Klang onto ECRL and then reload again in Kuantan onto North Asia bound ships.

- There was no study of how existing railway lines could be used to achieve the same goal e.g. having existing KTM rail routes divert through Mentakab rather than Gemas (wow, wouldn't that have saved a lot of money)

We all know that ECRL was inspired not by need but by kickbacks the Najib administration needed to shore up 1MDB. But now that we have it, do you agree with the observations above? Do you think ECRL will forever be a white elephant?

Written by Malek Ali