The tender for the assets company (AssetsCo) for the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur High-Speed Rail (HSR) has been launched on Wednesday (20 December), reported TODAYonline.
Notably, the AssetsCo will be responsible for funding, constructing and maintaining all rolling stock in the HSR network. It will also design and run all of its rail assets like, power, signalling, trackwork, and telecommunications.
The tender was called by Singapore’s Land Transport Authority’s wholly-owned unit SG HSR and Malaysia’s MyHSR Corporation.
Both will jointly hold a tender briefing in Kuala Lumpur on 23 January, and interested bidders have until 29 June 2018 to submit their proposals. The winning bidder is expected to be named by the end of next year.
According to SG HSR Managing Director Rama Venkta, they are looking forward to getting good competitive bids, after comments obtained from two industry briefings conducted earlier this year enhanced the parameter designs for the tender.
The bids will be assessed based on their price, value-for-money, commercial strength, financial sustainability and technical solutions. The last should prioritise reliability, customer focus, safety and security, as well as operational flexibility.
In October, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak revealed that they have commenced buying land for the HSR project. At present, MyHSR is showcasing the rail network’s domestic alignment to the public.
When the HSR commences its operations by 31 December 2026, it is expected to reduce the travel time between Kuala Lumpur and Jurong East in Singapore from four hours by car to only 1.5 hours by train.
In total, the HSR will come with eight stations. Besides the terminus in the city-state, the other seven are located within Malaysia, namely in Iskandar Puteri, Batu Pahat, Muar, Melaka, Seremban, Bangi-Putrajaya and Bandar Malaysia.
Furthermore, it was reported earlier this month that the HSR is likely to be served by four trains per hour. Two will run every 30 minutes to provide express service directly from Jurong East to Bandar Malaysia, while the other two will stop at all seven stations in Malaysia.
This article was edited by Keshia Faculin.
