KOTA BHARU, April 13 — The construction of the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project has recorded overall progress of 28.57 per cent thus far, said Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd (MRL) chief executive officer Datuk Seri Darwis Abdul Razak.

He said the percentage included construction works in four states, namely Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and Selangor.

The overall ECRL project along the 665 kilometres (km) stretch was progressing well and was on track to be fully completed by December 2026, he said.

"Overall we do not face many problems. Alhamdulillah, many issues have been resolved with good cooperation from all parties, especially the state governments involved.

"For Kelantan, the ECRL alignment is 43.86km, the progress of infrastructure works has reached 21.58 per cent and the land acquisition process for the main alignment has been fully completed,” he said.

He said this when met by reporters at a breaking of fast with media practitioners, here last night.

Commenting further, Darwis said that the construction work of the 16.39km Genting Tunnel from Pahang to Selangor will begin next month.

"The Genting Tunnel excavation process involving 10km in Pahang and another six km in Selangor is expected to take two and a half years with a productivity rate of approximately between 400 to 600 metres per month,” he said.

Darwis said the ECRL project, which will create a better, sophisticated and modern transportation system in the east coast states, is expected to start operating in Jan 2027.

"The target of passengers is 5.6 million a year, each journey involves six carriages capable of carrying 440 passengers.

"However, the ticket price has yet to be decided, it depends on the government,” he said. — Bernama