Elmina Gardens residents association chairman William Ho said an ECRL station would be good for development in Puncak Alam but the route would not be useful to residents.

“An MRT line which links to the Klang Valley will be more beneficial as compared to an ECRL station.

“How often do people go back to their hometowns as most have jobs in the Klang Valley,” he asked, adding that the railway network would only be a bridge between the east coast and west coast.

Ho told FMT that the Puncak Alam station could end up being underutilised and become a “white elephant” project.

“It’s more a political move to score points,” he said.

Ho said linking townships with proper public transport should be a government priority.

Meanwhile, transport expert Rosli Azad Khan said building an ECRL station in Puncak Alam would encourage the use of public transport but suggested that a southern alignment would be more practical.

“The northern line will not be of any use for traffic going south, which still needs to bypass KL Sentral. So, rail congestion at KL Sentral will not be resolved in the long term,” he said.

Rosli also hoped that the station would be accessible to other modes of transport.

Speculation is rife that finance minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz would contest the Kuala Selangor parliamentary seat on an Umno ticket after he announced, on June 6, the government’s approval to construct an ECRL station in Puncak Alam and his intention to make Kuala Selangor the adopted district of the finance ministry.

Observers have described this as a “clear indicator” that Tengku Zafrul will contest the parliamentary seat currently held by Amanah’s Dzulkefly Ahmad.