The East Coast Railway Line (ECRL) project will continue if terms more favourable to Malaysia can be renegotiated, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today.

“The problem is that the cost of construction is too high. That was negotiated by the previous government.

“The terms were not very good. All these terms need to be renegotiated.

“If we get better terms, then, of course, we will continue (the project),” he said in a press conference today.

The prime minister was speaking after a Bersatu supreme council meeting at the party’s headquarters in Petaling Jaya this afternoon. 

Previously, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng had said lowering the cost of ECRL would be necessary if the government wishes to continue with the project.

He also said the government had already forked out RM20 billion for the ECRL so it does not make sense to just scrap it.

The previous government had estimated the cost of the ECRL at RM55 billion.

The 688km rail link, if built, will connect Port Klang in Selangor and Pengkalan Kubor in Kelantan and will be constructed in two phases.