MELAKA (July 26): The Melaka government has expressed hope to be considered for inclusion in the new route of the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project.

State Public Works, Transport and Public Amenities Committee chairman Datuk Mohd Sofi Abdul Wahab said this move would be in line with Melaka’s history as one of the states that boasted good railway connection in the past, linking strategic areas between Singapore and the Peninsular Malaysia.

Today, the only remaining station is the Pulau Sebang station at the Melaka-Negeri Sembilan border as most of railway was demolished and turned into road.

“I followed the announcement of the ECRL project resumption by the Transport Minister on live broadcast.

“I think it is not impossible for such project to be developed by involving Melaka. Perhaps, the shelved Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail (HSR) project that involves the Durian Tunggal state constituency, has the possibility to be revived,” he said in a statement here.

The construction of the ECRL project was postponed since July last year when the government wanted to renegotiate with the developer about the cost and implementation aspects.

In April, the media reported that the ECRL project would resume at lower construction cost of the project’s Phase I and II at RM44 billion from the original cost of RM65.5 billion.

Mohd Sofi, who is also Durian Tunggal assemblyman, said the decision to postpone the ECRL project was appropriate as it would give the involved contractors the chance to look at their potentials as well as open up more opportunities for local companies.