KUCHING: The feasibility study of a rail system connecting Sabah and Sarawak will begin next year after the allocation for this purpose in the 2024 Budget is approved by Parliament.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke stated that the appointment of consultants for the study will be carried out through a tendering process.
According to him, the feasibility study will assess economic factors, such as the return on investment, the cargo sector’s needs, and the connectivity between ports and the rail sector.
“Secondly, in terms of geographical conditions, whether it can be implemented and what the estimated costs are before we proceed to the next steps, whether the government can carry out the project.
“The Sarawak government has expressed its desire and they have indeed requested that the feasibility study be conducted,” he was quoted as saying in a Malaysia Gazette report after officiating the International Rail Symposium in Sepang, today (Nov 6).
Loke added that the government was open to discussions with the Indonesian government regarding the proposal to create a transportation system connecting Sabah and Sarawak with the new Indonesian capital in Kalimantan.
The idea of a Trans-Borneo Railway was first suggested by former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to Indonesian President Joko Widodo in 2015.
In October, Loke had said the federal government had agreed to consider the proposal, announcing that a feasibility study would be conducted.
The project, if materialised, will be the first railway project of such scale on Borneo Island.
