Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said the implementation of the Gemas to Johor Bahru electric double-tracking railway project will become a catalyst to further develop and transform Segamat, and Johor as a whole.
The prime minister said despite the challenges in the initial stages, the government would give priority to the project in an ongoing effort to improve the quality of public transport.
“That’s why we give priority to this project and although there are certain challenges initially, we have reached the implementation stage.
“This project will cover 197km of rail and pass through 11 stations and I’m confident economic activities will be further boosted,” he said when performing the ground breaking of the Gemas-Johor Bahru PLBE project here today.
Najib, who is also the finance minister, said he also believed the project would bring many benefits, including enhancing bilateral ties between Malaysia and China, especially economically.
“Our ties (Malaysia and China) and economic relations will be further strengthened with the implementation of this project,” he said.
Apart from that, 99 per cent of the PLBE project works would involve local contractors, providing opportunities and economic spillover to the locals, said Najib.
Besides benefiting consumers, he said travelling from Johor Bahru to Kuala Lumpur Sentral would take only four hours while travelling to Johor Bahru to Padang Besar at a distance of 915.7 kilometres only took nine hours by the Electric Rail Service (ETS).
Also present at the event were Johor Menteri Besar Mohamed Khaled Nordin, Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai and Health Minister Dr S Subramaniam, who is also the Segamat MP.
The Gemas to Johor Bahru PLBE, which connects the southern part of Peninsular Malaysia, complements the network systems – the Ipoh to Padang Besar sector, Rawang to Ipoh sector, Klang Valley sector and Seremban to Gemas sector – of the double tracking rail system.
Among the new stations to be built are at Bandar Segamat, Labis, Bekok, Paloh, Bandar Kluang, Renggam, Layang-Layang, Kulai and Kempas Baru.
- Bernama
