On July 1, 2025, the Malaysian East Coast Railway (East Malaysia) project, undertaken by China Communications Construction Group Co., Ltd., ushered in an important node - Shuangbuntan Tunnel 2 was officially completed. The 9.88-kilometre-long tunnel is not only the second longest tunnel on the project's main line, but its completion 17 months ahead of schedule has set a new record for the Madong Rail Project, marking a breakthrough for the Belt and Road flagship project.

As one of the control works of the East Coast Railway Project in Malaysia, Shuangbuntan Tunnel 2 has been challenged by complex geological conditions since the start of excavation in August 2022. The project team innovatively adopted advanced technologies such as advanced geological forecasting and microseismic monitoring, and successfully overcame construction problems such as rock layer fragmentation and groundwater abundance. Speaking at the breakthrough ceremony, Darvis Abdul Razak, CEO of Malaysia Rail Link, pointed out that the Chinese builders have effectively protected the surrounding roads and rainforest ecosystems by optimizing the construction plan to control the land subsidence to less than 5 mm while ensuring the progress of the project.

The breakthrough has multiple significance: first, it is the 40th tunnel out of 41 tunnels in the project, which means that the project's tunnelling work is 97.5% complete. The remaining Genting Tunnel is also in the final stages of excavation and is expected to break through in the middle of next month. Secondly, the early completion of Shuangbundan Tunnel 2 has bought valuable time for subsequent track laying and electrification construction, laying a solid foundation for the full line to open to traffic by the end of 2026.

As a benchmark project for the Belt and Road Initiative between China and Malaysia, the project is designed to be more than 600 kilometers long, connecting Port Klang on the west coast of Malaysia and Kota Bharu on the east coast. When completed, the passenger train will run at speeds of up to 160 kilometers per hour and have a freight capacity of 54 million tonnes per year, which will significantly shorten the distance between the east and west coasts of Malaysia. According to the Malaysian government, the project will drive GDP growth of 1.5 percentage points in the east coast region, create 80,000 jobs, and promote tourism and manufacturing industries along the railway economic corridor through the establishment of a railway economic corridor.

The breakthrough once again demonstrates the technical strength and performance capabilities of China's infrastructure. The person in charge of the CCCC project said that the team will summarize the construction experience of the Shuangwentan Tunnel and make every effort to promote the remaining projects to ensure that this "road of friendship" and "road of development" will be completed as scheduled, and make new contributions to promoting regional connectivity and deepening China-Malaysia cooperation. With the imminent breakthrough of the Genting Tunnel, this steel dragon carrying the expectations of the people of the two countries is accelerating its formation and is about to inject new impetus into Malaysia's economic and social development.(This article is from the official website of Seetao www.seetao.com. Reprinting without permission is strictly prohibited. Please indicate Seetao.com + original link when reprinting) Seetao.com Strategy Column Editor/Sun Fengjuan