By Lian Cheng
KUCHING, May 13: The feasibility study on the Trans Borneo Railway is currently in the tender evaluation process.
Sarawak Transport Minister Dato Sri Lee Kim Shin said the Malaysian Ministry of Transport had tendered the feasibility study of the Trans Borneo Railway in March 2024.
“The scope of the feasibility study is to evaluate factors such as route and station options, cost estimates, sustainable development, environmental impacts, and potential socio-economic benefits to Sarawak, Sabah, Kalimantan and Brunei,” said Lee when delivering his ministerial winding-up speech at the Sarawak Legislative Assembly today.
He said the Sarawak Transport Ministry will sit as a member of the Technical Committee of the Trans Borneo Railway Feasibility Study.
The proposed Trans Borneo Railway will link Sarawak to Sabah and parts of Kalimantan and also Brunei.
On April 1, Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook clarified that the high-speed rail network connecting Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei and Kalimantan of Indonesia, known as the Trans Borneo Railway project, is still a proposal and has not been offered to any companies.
Loke said the tender to conduct feasibility studies for the project will only be opened in May, and the study will take nine months to complete.
His statement came after a company based in Brunei claimed that it would implement the project, which will unfold in two phases, encompassing a proposed route spanning 1,620 kilometres linking Sarawak, Sabah, Brunei, and Kalimantan. — DayakDaily
