The East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project has completed excavation works for 38 tunnels along its rail alignment, the latest being the 3.5-km Serendah 1 Tunnel on April 7 and 189-m Rawang-Bestari Jaya Tunnel on April 6, Bernama reports.
“With the two tunnels broken through, the ECRL has now achieved 38 tunnel breakthroughs out of the 41 planned along its rail alignment,” Malaysia Rail Link (MRL) and China Communications Construction ECRL (CCCECRL) said in a joint statement, adding that the three remaining tunnels – the twin-bore 16.39-km Genting Tunnel and the 9.85-km Serendah 2 Tunnel – are under excavation.
“The Genting Tunnel, currently in its final stage of excavation using two state-of-the-art tunnel boring machines, is expected to break through by mid-2025. Meanwhile, the Serendah 2 Tunnel, being excavated using the drill-and-blast method, is targeted for breakthrough in the third quarter of 2025,” the two firms said.
The Serendah 1 Tunnel is crucial for ensuring the ECRL alignment complies with its maximum gradient of 0.9%, while also minimising impact on nearby water catchment areas such as Batu Dam and reducing open forest clearing near the Sungai Tua Recreational Forest.
On April 7, the final blast at the Serendah 1 Tunnel broke through the last barrier approximately 2,046 metres from the tunnel’s exit portal. The achievement was the result of 894,920 man-hours and the use of the drill- and-blast technique through primarily weathered granite.
At the time of the breakthrough, the permanent tunnel lining had progressed 2,500 metres, of which the tunnel itself averages 12 metres in height and 13 metres in width, designed to accommodate two standard-gauge railway tracks, the companies said.
Excavation works for the Serendah 1 Tunnel began in November 2022, with the breakthrough originally scheduled for May 31, 2025, and all associated civil works expected to be completed by January 2026.
Phase 1 of the ECRL (Kota Bharu-Gombak Integrated Terminal) is scheduled for completion by December 2026, with operations set to begin in January 2027. Phase 2 (Gombak-Port Klang) is expected to be completed by December 2027 and become operational by January 2028.
The ECRL’s electric-multiple unit passenger trains will be able to run at up to 160 km/h, slashing Kota Bharu-Gombak travel time to four hours, compared to about seven hours by road or over 12 hours during festive periods.
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