KUCHING – The Sarawak government has not been officially informed of a proposal made by a Brunei-based company to start a high-speed rail network passing through several destinations in the state.
Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg said except for knowing about the plan from media reports he recently read, Sarawak had yet to be approached by the proponent of the project.
“It’s probably a private sector proposal which does not involve the government. If we were to build the Kalimantan-Borneo railway, there must be an agreement between Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei,” he said.
Met by reporters after attending an event here today, he said the Economic Planning Unit is still conducting feasible studies to create a railway network to link Sarawak with the other regions in Borneo.
“They will engage in government-to-government discussions with Indonesia and Brunei so that there is consensus in developing the railway,” he added.
Meanwhile, Brunei Transport and Information Communications Minister Datuk Seri Shamhary Mustapha said that there were no official discussions at the government level on the proposal.
However, Shamhary, as reported by Brunei-based newspaper Borneo Bulletin, said his ministry was aware of the company’s aspirations to provide train services within Borneo. However, it still requires further study.
“Even though there has been no official discussion at the government level about it, at the Asean level, there is an Asean Railway Subworking Group which discusses matters related to railway connectivity within Asean. So this matter may be raised in the future,” he said, quoted by the newspaper
The proposal by Brunei-based Brunergy Utama Sdn Bhd to start a high-speed rail network in Borneo caught media attention recently as the plan aimed to shorten travelling time between Brunei, Sarawak, Kalimantan and Sabah.
The company said the US$70 billion (RM330 billion) project would be implemented in two phases involving routes of over 1,600km that would be served by high-speed trains that could reach the speed of up to 350kmph. – March 31, 2024