By rosebell
With the aim of decreasing travel time between Kota Bharu and Gombak to around four hours, the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) Project, which is a railway link infrastructure project in Malaysia and is due to link Kelantan, Terengganu, and Pahang on the East Coast to Selangor, has achieved the completion of the 959m long Gombak Tunnel, one month earlier than planned.
As the 36th tunnel breakthrough, this landmark was reached and the ECRL Project is owned by Malaysia Rail Link (MRL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Malaysian Minister of Finance.
The responsibility of project’s engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning (EPCC) contractor is up to China Communications Construction (ECRL).
Using the drill-and-blast method of excavation, the final blast in the Gombak Tunnel cleared the remaining 38m of rock, whereas almost 5.8 million work hours were logged to achieve this breakthrough, with permanent lining work progressing to 892m. Following completion, the tunnel’s design will accommodate two standard gauge railway tracks.
The date of commencing Gombak Tunnel’s excavation work was June 2023, and the scheduled time for the breakthrough is Q4 2024.
March 2025 is the estimated date for conclusion of all the associated civil works for the tunnel.Providing minimal forest clearance in the Batu 11 Gombak area, the tunnel will support the ECRL railway track’s gradient requirements of 0.9%.
The 41 tunnels with total spanning length of around 69km are the contents of ECRL Project along its rail alignment, while 21 tunnels are located in Section A (Kota Bharu-Dungun) and Section B (Dungun-Mentakab), and the location of other 20 tunnels is in the Section C (Mentakab-Port Klang).
Including the 3.5km Serendah 1 Tunnel and the 9.85km Serendah 2 Tunnel, nine tunnels are situated in Selangor and within Section C. Serendah 1 and Serendah 2 are both currently under excavation.
Being completed six months ahead of schedule in April 2021, the first tunnel breakthrough of ECRL Project was recorded at the 1.1km Paka Tunnel in Terengganu. In May 2024, the first tunnel breakthrough was achieved in Selangor at the 469m Sungai Buaya 2 Tunnel.
According to MRL CEO Dato’ Sri Darwis Abdul Razak: “The ECRL Gombak Tunnel breakthrough marks another milestone in the project’s progress as it is an integral component for the completion of the ECRL alignment from Kota Bharu, Kelantan to the Gombak Integrated Terminal, Selangor by December 2026.We are optimistic to commence ECRL operations from January 2027 onwards to align with the aspirations of the people and the business communities by providing seamless transportation for passengers and freight respectively.”
Connecting the East Coast states of Kelantan, Terengganu, and Pahang to Selangor on the West Coast, the ECRL is 665km long and intends to reduce travel time between Kota Bharu and the Gombak Integrated Terminal to approximately four hours.
