East-Coast-Train

The resumption of the KTM East Coast Line rail service is unlikely to happen before Hari Raya Aidifitri, unless KTMB is able to complete all necessary repair work in time. This may not happen as the rail operator has reportedly not even finished with critical work that would allow for the resumption of partial services, The Star reports.

The Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) said the commission was doing all it can to facilitate the reopening of the railway, especially the 321 km stretch between Gemas and Gua Musang, but this is pursuant to KTMB being able to finish repair work.

The commission's rail division head Yuslizar Daud said that at the current rate of progress, it would be unlikely that train services will be resumed by Raya. "KTMB itself acknowledges that 6,083 pieces of rotting wooden sleepers need to be replaced first but as of July 2, it has only changed 202 pieces," he told reporters.

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He said that it is still possible for KTMB to finish replacing the remaining 5,881 sleepers within a week, if it added at least 90 workers to the project and repairs continue around the clock.

Other problematic areas were the 296 km stretch between Gemas and Merapoh in Pahang, which had 41 spots identified as having insufficient ballast (the foundation for the tracks) as well as several spots between Mentakab/Jerantut and between Jerantut/Kuala Lipis, also regarding issues with the ballast. There is also an issue with wrongly-constructed drainage between Bahau and Kemayan.

Yuslizar said that SPAD will only give the green light for the reopening of the railway once it was satisfied that all the repairs had been carried out. "Our approval is conditional upon KTMB finishing all these work as well as having an independent engineer to verify that the repairs are up to mark," he said.