The plan to have two services – one direct service and another with transit stops – on the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail (HSR) route remains under discussion as both countries consider the commercial and operating models of the project, including the possibility of two different services, said Singapore’s Transport Ministry in response to a report by The Edge.
Mohd Nur Ismal Mohamed Kamal, Chief Executive of MyHSR Corp Sdn Bhd, mentioned about stakeholders “envisioning to start with two services — one that will go directly to Singapore, and another that will stop with transit services in Bandar Malaysia, Seremban, Malacca, Muar, Batu Pahat and Nusajaya, and then (across the Causeway to) Singapore”, reported TODAYonline.
According to a spokesperson from the Transport Ministry, “Singapore has proposed that the transit service, which will stop at several stations in Malaysia and hence primarily serve commuters travelling within Malaysia, be operated separately from the express non-stop HSR service. This will give Malaysia autonomy over the transit service to serve Malaysia’s domestic needs, while both countries work together on the cross-border HSR services.”
Mohd Nur Ismal also said that travel time on the non-stop service would take 90 minutes, while the other service with six transit stops would take around two hours.
On Mohd Nur Ismal’s statement that both parties have “come to a consensus on the alignment of the 330km high-speed rail”, Singapore explained that the issue is still under discussion and will be finalised following the completion of detailed engineering studies.
A few months ago, Singapore’s Land Transport Authority and Malaysia’s Land Public Transport Commission jointly launched a request for information (RFI) exercise to assess industry opinion, public perception as well as gauge market interest in the HSR project.
Singapore revealed that the exercise was already completed last month, with both countries studying the feedback, which will be used “to improve the project’s commercial and operating models and procurement approach”.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
