KUALA LUMPUR: Local contractors who pre-qualified can look forward to tenders for the civil works packages of the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) in the fourth quarter of this year.
A total of 331 Malaysian construction companies have pre-qualified in the recent exercise, Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd said, in s statement.
MRL, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Minister of Finance Incorporated, is the project and asset owner of the ECRL.
The 640-km rail network is scheduled for completion by December 2026 and expected to link Kota Bharu to Putrajaya. The entire rail ride will take four hours.
ECRL’s main contractor China Communications Construction Company Ltd (CCCC) had earlier called for submission of pre-qualification documents in May to identify potential sub-contractors for civil works (excluding tunnel works) packages.
All Construction Industry Development Board-registered companies from grades G3 to G7 with a minimum two-star SCORE rating were encouraged to participate in the pre-qualification exercise.
The shortlisted 331 accounted for 25.1 per cent of 1,321 companies participating in the pre-qualification phase of the ECRL project. Of the 331, 234 or 70.7 per cent were Bumiputera companies.
MRL chief executive officer Datuk Seri Darwis Abdul Razak said tender packages for civil works would start from the 223-km stretch of Dungun, Terengganu to Mentakab, Pahang where the rail alignment had been finalised.
He added further tenders will be called once the re-alignment from Kota Bharu to Dungun and between Mentakab and Port Klang are firmed up.
Darwis said completion of the ECRL by end of 2026 also hinged on the effective participation of local contractors in ECRL’s civil works which includes earthworks, foundation works, structural works, soil improvement works and road works.