He said that once materialised, the project will enhance people-to-people connectivity and boost the economy in the region.

“Economically, it will facilitate trade, promote growth of industries at the border areas and boost tourism in the Borneo region,” he said in a statement today

According to the statement, works minister Alexander Nanta Linggi had said last November his ministry had received a preliminary proposal on the Trans-Borneo Railway project.

Nanta said the idea for this mega-railway linking Sarawak and Sabah and eventually connecting to Kalimantan came from the transport ministry, and the federal government had approved a financial allocation specifically to carry out a feasibility ground study on the  routes within Sabah and Sarawak.

The statement also mentioned that Brunei-based Brunergy Utama Sdn Bhd announced it would be embarking on the project, which it proposed to be implemented in two phases with the line spanning 1,620km.

The first phase will connect cities from West Kalimantan to the east coast of Borneo, beginning in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, and ending in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

The second phase will involve North and East Kalimantan with the main route connecting with Samarinda and with Nusantara, the new capital of Indonesia.