The tender for the 197-kilometre Gemas-Johor Bahru electrified double tracking project (EDTP) will be done before year-end, Transport Minister Kong Cho Ha said today.

The stretch is already in the final stage of design, he said, but declined to state if the tender would be open to foreign parties.

"The Ipoh-Padang Besar and Seremban-Gemas lines are 70 and 90 per cent complete respectively," he added, after officiating a forum on 'Powering the rails in Malaysia' in Kuala Lumpur.

azlan The Gemas-Johor Bahru sector is the final package for the EDTP.

It was previously stated that the Gemas-Johor Bahru line is worth RM7 billion because it does not only comprise the building of a double-tracking system but also a transport hub with a capacity to rival the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) in Singapore.

Kong said the rail sector is poised to emerge as a catalyst in the rapidly changing landscape of Malaysia's public transportation system once all the projects comes to a conclusion.

He said the EDTP in the northern section is slated for completion at end-2013 and the line to Johor by 2016.

Asked if the Komuter service would be extended from Batu Caves to Selayang, he said the government is considering the possibility.

"There has been a request from the public for the extension. At the moment we are still looking at the possibility.

"There will be a long term need for it and the extension is seen as the most viable," he added.

- Bernama