He said the state government would propose for the line to be extended from Bentong to Raub or Jerantut before going to Lipis, and that the route through Kuantan could include Pekan and Rompin.

“The ECRL is scheduled to be completed in 2026 and operational in 2027. At the state executive council meeting within the last two or three months, I had said that we should make a new application (to add the routes). Do not wait until the ECRL is completed and operational to make the request.

“I have requested that the Pahang state secretary (Zulkifli Yaacob) make the application through the state economic planning division. This means that we are taking early action, not waiting (for the ECRL) to be ready because it takes a long time,” he said.

Wan Rosdy said this during Aziz Mat Kiram’s (BN-Batu Talam) debate on Pahang’s Budget 2024 at the state assembly sitting at Wisma Sri Pahang here today.

He reiterated that the Pahang government was taking proactive measures so that the ECRL could have links added in the state after the project’s scheduled start of operations in 2027 from Kota Bharu, Kelantan, to the Gombak Integrated Terminal in Selangor.

Earlier, Aziz said the new ECRL alignment from Bentong to Lipis could connect the railway line in west Pahang, indirectly bringing economic spillover to local residents.