The HSR tender may be called next year, with Japan having made a strong pitch for it to use its bullet train technology.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said yesterday that the international tender to supply high-speed rail (HSR) trains may be called by the fourth quarter of next year, reported The New Straits Times.
Najib revealed that most issues relating to the ambitious project have been “more or less” resolved. He also confirmed that Singapore and Malaysia are on track to sign the agreement for the development of the HSR by early December.
Najib, who is on an official three-day visit to Japan, made the announcement after a meeting in Tokyo with his Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe.
“There are several milestones in the implementation of this project but the most significant would be the international bidding process, which, according to our plan, will be issued in the fourth quarter of 2017,” he said. “I have reassured Prime Minister Abe that the process to arrive at the final decision (on the contract) would be done in an open, transparent and objective manner.”
Notably, Abe made a strong pitch for the Singapore and Malaysian governments to consider using the Japanese Shinkansen bullet train system.
“We had a very good discussion on the high-speed railway programme between Malaysia and Singapore, and I expressed strong expectations regarding the adoption of Japan’s bullet train technology,” said Abe at the press conference.
On Monday (14 November), Singapore’s Transport Ministry said Singapore and Malaysia “are working towards signing the bilateral agreement on the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail at the next leaders’ retreat on 5 December 2016”.
With terminus stations in Jurong East and Bandar Malaysia, the 350km double-track rail will reduce travel time between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur to 90 minutes.
Cheryl Marie Tay, Senior Journalist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this or other stories, email cheryl@propertyguru.com.sg
