26/04/05 - THE Transport Ministry has proposed that the Government revivethe postponed RM14 billion double-tracking railway project following plansto aggressively improve the country's railway system under the 9thMalaysia Plan.Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy said his ministry is nowwaiting for the approval to proceed with the plan.He said the present double-tracking railway network, stretching fromSeremban to Ipoh, is part of the 7th and 8th Malaysia Plans. With theadvent of the 9th Malaysia Plan, it is only logical to extend the presentnetwork beyond Ipoh."The ministry is seriously looking at improving the country's railwaysystem and will allocate a substantial portion of our 9th Malaysia Planbudget for this."We are now waiting to get the approval from the Cabinet to proceed withthe project to further improve the present railway network," he toldreporters after officiating at the 1st Asia Rail Conference & Exhibitionin Petaling Jaya yesterday.Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in December 2003 froze theIpoh-Padang Besar and Seremban-Johor Baru double-tracking project as partof efforts to gradually reduce the nation's budget deficit.Prior to the postponement, Malaysia Mining Corp Bhd (MMC) and Gamuda Bhdwere awarded the contract to carry out the project on a 50-50 jointventure basis.Other bidders eyeing the project include Indian Railway Construction Co(Ircon) and China Railway Engineering Corp.Chan said the ministry has also proposed that the double-tracking railwayproject be divided into several portions to help lessen the financialburden."Instead of carrying out the project at one go for both north and south,it is better for the construction works to be carried out in stages. Mostlikely we will focus on the northern portion," he added.On whether the MMC-Gamuda consortium will remain the main contractor forthe project, he said he will let the Government study the matter.In a phone interview later, Chan told Business Times that the mainpriority now is to get the project approved."That is why we are proposing to stagger the project so it will not be tooexpensive," he added.Meanwhile, Avenue Securities senior analyst Kamarulzaman Hassan said he isconfident that the MMC-Gamuda consortium will remain the main contractorsfor the project.The consortium could break up the project into several more phases, orsub-contract it to more companies.However, he has his doubts that the Cabinet will agree to the revival ofthe project, given its exorbitant cost."It is true that the 9th Malaysia Plan aims to further improve thecountry's railway system."However, I think the plan would focus more on repairing the presentsingle railway line."Such a move alone is expected to cost around RM3 billion. I think thedouble-tracking project would be a bit too expensive for the country atthe moment," he added.