Brunei company proposes high-speed railway across Borneo

 

A Brunei firm has proposed the first high-speed rail network in Borneo to shorten travel between Kalimantan, Sarawak, Sabah and Brunei.

Brunergy Utama Sdn Bhd’s Trans-Borneo Railways (TBR) project route will span 1,620km and trains will travel at speeds of between 300 and 350kph.

According to its website, stations will be an estimated 150km apart with an expected travel time of 30 minutes between each station.

The project will be implemented in two phases.

"Phase One of construction will aim to connect the economic powerhouses of the western coastline cities to the east; starting at Pontianak, West Kalimantan, and ending at Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

"Phase Two will then break into North and East Kalimantan to connect the Main Line with Borneo’s largest city, Samarinda, and later the future Indonesian capital of Nusantara,” it said.

TBR will host four terminals and 24 stations across the Borneo island, with the Brunei district Tutong as its central hub, the company added.

Brunergy Utama is a wholly Bruneian-owned company focused on major infrastructure projects that encourage economic growth.

Initially incorporated as primarily an oil and gas company known as Mumin Energy (B) Sdn Bhd, Brunergy Utama founders Danny Chong and Khalid Abdul Mumin pivoted the company to mass transport delivery systems for Brunei and neighbouring Malaysian states.

“Inspired by the increasing popularity of bullet trains in China, Japan and other parts of the world, Chong and Khalid eventually decided to pursue this venture for Borneo island,” the company website said. - Mkini