Are you nuts, Najib asks PKR man over claims on pricey ECRL fares
Najib Razak has refuted concerns by PKR’s Azan Ismail that tickets on the East Coast Rail Link could be expensive due to the costly construction cost.
PETALING JAYA: Former prime minister Najib Razak has called Terengganu PKR chief Azan Ismail “nuts” for claiming that fares on the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) would be exorbitantly priced.
This comes after Azan noted that there were concerns that tickets could be expensive because of the high construction cost, which was expected to climb further due to the weakening ringgit.
In a Facebook post today, Najib said it was ridiculous for Azan to claim that ECRL fares would be six times higher than air fares.
“Who did the math? What formula was used?” he asked, adding that those on the east coast would be furious if ticket costs were that high.
He pointed out that although the cost of the ECRL project was high, ticket prices would be reasonable because the source of income for the project was not only from fare collection.
“The largest portion comes from the transport of goods … two-way freight from Kuantan port to Port Klang. With this, ships don’t need to pass through Singapore,” he said.
Najib noted that when Pakatan Harapan (PH) was in power, it managed to reduce the project cost from RM55 billion to RM44 billion by shortening the route.
“When the Perikatan Nasional government came to power, it went up to RM50 billion, but the route was still shorter compared to Barisan Nasional’s original plan,” he said.
Because of PH’s interference, he said, the project had been postponed and would only be ready in 2026.
“Now the public has to endure traffic congestion for another two years. The economic development of the country and east coast has also been delayed,” he said.
The 665km rail network, which includes 59 tunnels, will traverse four states – Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and Selangor.
PETALING JAYA: Former prime minister Najib Razak has called Terengganu PKR chief Azan Ismail “nuts” for claiming that fares on the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) would be exorbitantly priced.
This comes after Azan noted that there were concerns that tickets could be expensive because of the high construction cost, which was expected to climb further due to the weakening ringgit.
In a Facebook post today, Najib said it was ridiculous for Azan to claim that ECRL fares would be six times higher than air fares.
“Who did the math? What formula was used?” he asked, adding that those on the east coast would be furious if ticket costs were that high.
He pointed out that although the cost of the ECRL project was high, ticket prices would be reasonable because the source of income for the project was not only from fare collection.
“The largest portion comes from the transport of goods … two-way freight from Kuantan port to Port Klang. With this, ships don’t need to pass through Singapore,” he said.
Najib noted that when Pakatan Harapan (PH) was in power, it managed to reduce the project cost from RM55 billion to RM44 billion by shortening the route.
“When the Perikatan Nasional government came to power, it went up to RM50 billion, but the route was still shorter compared to Barisan Nasional’s original plan,” he said.
Because of PH’s interference, he said, the project had been postponed and would only be ready in 2026.
“Now the public has to endure traffic congestion for another two years. The economic development of the country and east coast has also been delayed,” he said.
The 665km rail network, which includes 59 tunnels, will traverse four states – Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and Selangor.
Najib made a good point about much of the traffic on the ECRL being goods.
ReplyDeleteGoods traffic will not only be transported between Port Klang and Kuantan Port but other ports on the East Coast as well.
Unfortunately, little has been said about the less than sexy looking goods trains which will run on the ECRL tracks.
Based upon the three part article on the Vientiane - Kunming high-speed rail which went into operation in December 2021, the goods locomotive will be a more conventional-looking locomotive which will draw the goods train at 120 kmph rather than 160 kmph for the sleek and sexy looking passenger train.
China-Laos Highspeed Rail Starts Operation (Part 1)
https://www.enterprisetv.com.my/china-laos-highspeed-rail-starts-operation-part-1/
China-Laos Highspeed Rail Starts Operation (Part 2)
https://www.enterprisetv.com.my/china-laos-highspeed-rail-starts-operation-part-2/
China-Laos Highspeed Rail Starts Operation (Part 3)
https://www.enterprisetv.com.my/china-laos-highspeed-rail-starts-operation-part-3/
This is roughly what the goods train will look like.
Chongqing Launches New China-Laos International Freight Train Route
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvBlM74crCc
The problem with the current KTMB line from Gemas in Johor to Tumpat on the Kelantan coast is that the line mostly runs deep inland until Tumpat, whilst the ECRL runs from Port Klang to Kuantan and then up through major towns and cities along the East Coast, with rail links to ports along the way.
Also, after Thailand hopefully completes its Bangkok - Vientiane leg of the high-speed rail and its leg to ports on the Gulf of Thailand, the southern leg of the high-speed rail, hopefully if built, it will connect to the ECRL at the Kelantan - Thai border, and hopefully if the high-speed rail to Singapore is built, this will enable travel from Singapore all the way to Kunming by rail.
This will not only bring much-needed economic activities along the ECRL's route on the East Coast and with increased living standards, hopefully a more moderate attitude towards religion on the East Coast.
Based on existing passenger and freight traffic to and from the East Coast, the ECRL is likely to be a permanent burden to the taxpayer.
ReplyDeleteThe fact of the matter is that passenger tickets on the East Coast Rail Line will likely be one of three outcomes
1. Very Costly
2. Or have to be heavily subsidised.
3. Or the Malaysian taxpayer will have to absorb the write-off of the entire infrastructure cost of the ECRL as the operating profits will never pay back the line..
I emphasise the burden on the MALAYSIAN taxpayer, because China never really risked any investment money in ECRL. China institutions made a fully repayable loan, and China companies benefitted handsomely from engineering construction and supply of rolling stock / railway equipment
Freight cross-subsidy for passenger traffic , may not even be economically sufficient to start with, and in any case will mean the passenger trains will not be a self-sustaining concern.
Multi-stage , Multi-modal freight - sea transport to land transport to sea again - is one of the trickiest and most complex transport systems, and there are very, very few successful examples in history.
On top of this, it would have to be more efficient and at least competitive in time and cost to the Port of Singapore to take away traffic from the Sings.
Good luck to Malaysia to bet on this to make ECRL a success.
It is really a wager, like 4-Digit lottery, because on current passenger and freight volume alone, it is impossible for ECRL to be a commercial going-concern.
A f*cked business acumen from a oft-claimed silver spooned mfer.
DeleteTo make a dirt poor region on the road to prosperity, there must be basic infrastructures worthy of the modern needs.
要想富，先修路 - an age old Chinese ancestral advice.
Many a time, such a project designed for a dirt poor region is always contradictory to capitalistic considerations - as spelled out by this know-nothing anmokausai.
Bcoz of the claims of these capitalistic evaluations, the project has to be abandoned. Leaving the surrounding territories & residents trapped in economic deadens that have enslaved them forever!
With the financial & technical inputs from a willing China (if not, who else), the ecrl can be realised & put a new life into the long neglected east coast of peninsular m'sia.
Yet there r these insidious deadheads keep chanting their western debt trap theory to torpedo the project.
Debt trap? A flowery descriptive fart of short-sightedness.
If the work is been run & managed properly - liken to the poverty elimination plans of China - there would be a prosperous East coast with a very much lesser dependency on the mumbo jumbo of zombieicism!