ECRL Kuala Selangor alignment is 83% complete as port link nears

The East Coast Rail Link is making steady progress through Selangor. The 15.45-kilometre ECRL alignment running through Kuala Selangor has reached 83% completion as of September 2026, according to Media Selangor.

The Kuala Selangor stretch is part of a bigger picture. The full ECRL alignment within Selangor spans 90.72 kilometres — one of the most strategically significant sections of the entire 665-kilometre line. When complete, it connects Malaysia’s east coast directly to Northport and Westports at Port Klang. This is the long-planned land bridge between the two coasts.

The overall ECRL project reached 87% completion in August 2026. It remains on track for its December 2026 target. Passenger services between Kota Bharu and Gombak begin in January 2027.

What the Selangor ECRL alignment covers

The 90.72-kilometre Selangor alignment is one of the most complex sections of the project. It features five stations — Gombak, Bandar Serendah, Puncak Alam, Kapar and Jalan Kastam at Port Klang. Gombak, Kapar and Jalan Kastam serve passengers only. Bandar Serendah and Puncak Alam handle both passengers and cargo.

The Gombak station is already integrated with the LRT. Passengers can transfer between the ECRL and the Kelana Jaya Line in the same station. Selangor residents will not need a separate journey to an isolated terminus.

Kuala Selangor sits along this corridor as the line pushes westward from Gombak toward the coast. The 83% progress represents physical construction — earthworks, piling, beam launching, bridge work — along the 15.45-kilometre district stretch. In September 2024, the Selangor alignment was at 40.34%. The Kuala Selangor section is tracking well ahead of that pace.

The port connection that changes everything

The most significant element is not a passenger station. It is the port link. Section D runs 25 kilometres from Jalan Kastam station to Northport and Westports. Construction has already started on this stretch.

The port link turns the ECRL into a genuine freight corridor, not just a passenger line. Once complete, it links Northport, Westports and the ECRL freight facilities at Kuantan Port directly by rail. Cargo that now travels by road through the Klang Valley can move by rail instead.

The port link uses a double-track system. A new standard-gauge ECRL track runs alongside the existing metre-gauge KTMB track. Both rail networks share the same corridor without conflict. Transport Minister Anthony Loke confirmed the Cabinet approved this without extra government funding or higher project costs.

The wider 665-kilometre ECRL opens in phases. The Kota Bharu–Gombak section begins commercial operations in January 2027. The extension from Gombak to Port Klang, including the port links, targets completion by December 2027 and operations in January 2028.

ECRL: What this means for Selangor

The ECRL’s progress through Kuala Selangor is the clearest sign the line is approaching its western terminus. Kuala Selangor sits between the Klang Valley and the Selangor coast. Coastal communities here have had limited rail access for decades.

Selangor MB Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari has flagged plans for potential new stations in Kuala Selangor and Klang. These would connect to the existing ECRL alignment. That would extend the rail network further into parts of Selangor currently served only by road.

Port Klang is already Southeast Asia’s largest port by container volume. The ECRL gives it a direct rail link to the east coast for the first time. For logistics operators and freight forwarders, this is a fundamental shift in how cargo moves across the peninsula.

The 83% figure is a construction milestone. What comes after matters more. A rail line that reshapes how Malaysia’s two coasts connect — by passenger train and freight wagon alike.