Time for good connectivity in East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR: It is about time the East Coast in Peninsular Malaysia gets its fair share of good connectivity and development through the much-talked-about 688-kilometre (km) East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), which would bring enormous benefits for the people, especially the younger generation.

“This is something good because most of the country’s public transportation is focused on the West Coast, for instance, Selangor, Perak and Penang. This is the first time that a mega project is aligned towards the East Coast,” said S. Vijayan, 37, owner of a grocery store in Selangor.

He said the government should build more infrastructure projects in Pahang, Kelantan and Terengganu.

“The East Coast is definitely underdeveloped and this project will help boost the development of the states,” Vijayan told Bernama in an interview recently.

The rail link – scheduled for completion in 2024 – would connect Port Klang in Selangor to Pengkalan Kubor in Kelantan and would also cut across Pahang and Terengganu.

“The ECRL will benefit the new generation as they want things fast and prefer not to wait for anything. We should emulate countries like Japan (which relies on its train system),” said taxi driver, Sulaiman Mohd Amin, 65, from Selangor.

Meanwhile, Hazimi Ismail, 32, a government staff in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, said the ECRL would make it easier to travel to Kuala Lumpur (KL) as it would cut travel time by half.

“It will only take four hours to get to KL, whereas it takes about eight hours to travel by bus,” he said.

A survey conducted by Bernama in Besut and Dungun – two districts which would have their own fastmoving train stations – showed that most of the residents were looking forward to the project in anticipation of the benefits that it would bring.

Bank officer, Syed Mohamad Shafiq Syed Abd Hamid, 26, said it would make it easier for people to go back to their hometowns, especially during emergencies.

“For example, I’m from Temerloh, Pahang, but I am working in Jerteh – a distance of about 350 km – and it takes three-and-a-half hours to drive from one point to the other. With the fast train, I do not think that I will have any problem arriving in Temerloh in a much shorter time compared to the time it takes to drive there, especially if there is an emergency.

“I can also save on costs such as tolls and petrol,” he said.

A co-operative staff, Anis Salwani Abd Samad, 20, from Dungun, Terengganu, said the fast train would be able to cut down on the number of road users and thus reduce air pollution.

“We know the number of vehicles in the state increases during school holidays and since there is no train service like the one in the West Coast, people prefer to drive, causing traffic jams in small towns such as Dungun. This situation can be alleviated when they have an alternative transportation mode to travel around the state, allowing them to visit tourist attractions without having to drive,” she said. — Bernama