USERS’ EXPECTATION ON EAST COAST RAIL LINK (ECRL)

Abstract

This paper focuses on the role of the new East Coast Rail Links (ECRL) project in Malaysia and how it will improve logistics efficiency, economic development, and environmental friendliness to meet users' expectations. The ECRL project aims to enhance connectivity between East and West Coast regions to stimulate industrial, commercial, and tourism development. The ECRL is a large-scale and heavily constructed railroad construction project. ECRL has not been a smooth project, with the government proposing the program in 2016 and construction beginning in 2017. However, due to various factors, it was suspended in 2018 and continued with a new rail route in 2019. Users' expectations for ECRL are mainly to reduce traffic congestion problems on the road, reduce high road transport costs, reduce pollution to the environment, drive business development and promote employment in the surrounding areas along the route. Because all these problems are becoming severe in Malaysia now, we will study ECRL and collect data from the respondents to point out the users' expectations of ECRL in terms of improving logistics efficiency, economic development, and environmental friendliness. After analysing the data, our study concludes with the result that all three variables positively influence users' expectations of ECRL, which, as a new railroad in Malaysia, will play a crucial role in the future development of the East Coast of Malaysia and Malaysia as a whole.