Qinghai-Tibet Train Builder To Construct Railway On Borneo Island?
Written by Jaxon S on January 27th, 2008 in Borneo Railway.
China South Locomotive and Rolling Stock Industry Corporation has been invited to conduct a feasibility study on an ambitious plan to build statewide railway lines in Sabah, the Malaysian state on the northern part of Borneo Island.
If the name of the company does not ring a bell to you, this piece of information might: South China Locomotive is one of the companies involved in the construction of the world’s highest railway project, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway,
[A train chugging through Tibet terrain on the world's highest railway track. Imagine similar train on Borneo railway lines with Mount Kinabalu in the background.]
According to a report by The Star newspaper, the Sabah state government had tasked a consultant firm to liaise with the Chinese railway and fleet builder for the proposed feasibility study.
The report did not say whether China South Locomotive had agreed to carry out the study or whether it was interested to pursue the project.
Railway, key transport and logistics component
Sabah’s Infrastructure Development Minister Raymond Tan said in the report that, “The railway is a key component in the transport and logistics sector.”
“We cannot afford to neglect it,” he told the media after meeting top officials from the company in Kota Kinabalu, the state capital of Sabah.
Relic of colonial past
Sabah already has a 134km railway track — which is a nearly 100-year-old relic of the colonial past — stretching from Tanjung Aru, near Kota Kinabalu to Tenom in the interior.
In fact, the state-run railway service, is the only railway line on the whole of Borneo island.
Aeroport hub
In line with the plan to expand the existing railway line, the state government would build a modern railway terminal, costing RM600 million which will have facilities like shopping arcades, hotels and an art gallery when completed in five years.
Hmm… a RM600 million facility that will take five years to complete? Didn’t it sound like leaving plenty of rooms for cost overruns?
If Genting can build a SGD$5.2 billion or RM11.9 billion ultra modern Resort World at Sentosa (picture below) in just three years… oh, well.
Anyway, Tan said, “The whole idea of the Aeroport project is basically to create a transport hub for Sabah where one can get connected to almost every part of Sabah through various modes of transportation.”
