The impacts of East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project in Kota Bharu, Kelantan

This paper evaluates the economic, social and environmental impacts in the implementation of East Coast Rail Line (ECRL) project in Kota Bharu, Kelantan. The big project required a large financial budget which cost RM75 billion to implement it. The rail network involved four states in Peninsular Malaysia which consist of Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and Selangor. Forest land, wildlife and rainforest will be affected through the implementation of the ECRL project. It’s important to find out the positive and negative impacts of this project as it will influence Malaysia’s future. In-depth interviews were conducted with 10 participants. Evidence was found by manual coding for analysing the data. Findings showed a strong evidence regarding the impacts which occurred in the project. Positive impacts were found with plenty of negative impacts in three aspects which were economic, social and environmental. It proves the effort of Malaysia government in trying their best to maximize the positive impact and minimize the negative impact that come across this project. Time constraints of the paper submission was the main limitation to collect more useable data.