KOTA KINABALU: Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor (
pic) said the proposed Trans-Borneo Railway project linking Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei Darussalam and Kalimantan, Indonesia, will be a boon to the Borneo region.
“Once materialised, the project will be impactful to enhance people-to-people connectivity.
“Economically, it will facilitate trade, promote growth of industries at the border areas and boost tourism in the Borneo region,” he said in a statement Sunday.
Last November, Federal Works Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi said his ministry had received a preliminary proposal on the Trans-Borneo Railway Project.
Nanta said the idea for this mega-railway linking Sarawak and Sabah and eventually connecting to Kalimantan came from the Transport Ministry.
The Federal Government, he said, had approved a financial allocation specifically to carry out a feasibility ground study on the Trans-Borneo Railway routes involving the Sarawak-Sabah side.
Brunei-based Brunergy Utama Sdn Bhd announced it would embark on the Trans-Borneo Railway project, which it proposed to be implemented in two phases involving routes spanning 1,620 kilometres.
The first phase will connect cities from the West to the East coast, beginning in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, and ending in Kota Kinabalu.
The second phase will involve North and East Kalimantan, connecting the main route with Samarinda, and to Indonesia’s new capital, Nusantara.
