The East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project’s 959-m Gombak Tunnel recently broke through, one month ahead of schedule, becoming the 36th ECRL tunnel to successfully complete the excavation process to date.
The final blast at the Gombak Tunnel punched through the last barrier some 38 m from the tunnel’s entrance portal. This achievement is a culmination of approximately 5,813,560 man-hours and the adoption of the drill-and-blast method of tunnelling that bored through primarily weathered granite.
The permanent lining for the Gombak Tunnel has progressed to 892 m prior to the breakthrough ceremony on 29 October 2024. The tunnel has an average height of 12 m and width of 13 m, thus providing the space for two standard gauge railway tracks upon completion.
The excavation work for Gombak Tunnel commenced in June 2023, with the breakthrough originally scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2024. All related civil works for the tunnel are expected to be fully completed by March 2025.
The construction of the tunnel will enable the ECRL railway track to comply with its maximum gradient of 0.9% as well as avoid major open forest cutting at the Batu 11 Gombak area.
The ECRL project features the construction of 41 tunnels with a total length of about 69 km along its rail alignment, of which 21 tunnels are located within Section A (Kota Bharu-Dungun) and Section B (Dungun-Mentakab), while the remaining 20 tunnels are situated in Section C (Mentakab-Port Klang).
Of the 20 ECRL tunnels in Section C, a total of nine tunnels are located within Selangor. These include the 3.50-km Serendah 1 Tunnel and 9.85-km Serendah 2 Tunnel which are both under excavation.
“The ECRL Gombak Tunnel breakthrough marks another milestone in the project’s progress as it is an integral component for the completion of the ECRL alignment from Kota Bharu, Kelantan to the Gombak Integrated Terminal, Selangor by December 2026,” said Dato’ Sri Darwis Abdul Razak, CEO of Malaysia Rail Link (MRL), the ECRL project owner.
“We are optimistic to commence ECRL operations from January 2027 onwards to align with the aspirations of the people and the business communities by providing seamless transportation for passengers and freight respectively.”
MRL, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Minister of Finance (Incorporated) [MOF (Inc.)], is the project owner of the ECRL while China Communications Construction Co Ltd (CCCC) is the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) contractor. The 665-km ECRL will traverse the East Coast states of Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang before linking with Selangor on the West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia.
Image: China Communications Construction Co Ltd
