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High-speed rail initiative not driven by any private sector proposal

PETALING JAYA: The proposed high-speed rail (HSR) project linking Kuala Lumpur and Singapore is not driven by any proposal from the private sector. Instead, said Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) chief executive officer Mohd Nur Ismal Mohamed Kamal, the project would take shape based largely on its needs and viability.

“This HSR plan will ultimately depend on the need to have such infrastructure, although there have been a number of proposals received. We are starting afresh this time around in terms of concept, alignment and infrastructure plan,” he told StarBiz yesterday.

In comparison, the multi-billion ringgit MRT project was first initiated and proposed by a joint venture between MMC Corp Bhd and Gamuda Bhd that subsequently become the MRT project delivery partner.

Mohd Nur confirmed that pre-feasibility studies for the HSR project had just been completed.

He added that the tender for the feasibility studies would be opened before year-end and work would start early next year. There had also been an open tender for the pre-feasibility studies.

In March, SPAD was quoted as saying other considerations to weigh in looking at the HSR were the impact on other parallel transportation as well as the demand and supply.

On the cost of the project, Mohd Nur said it was too early to estimate at this point, adding that it would become clearer after all the tender exercises were done.

It has been reported that the KL-Singapore HSR could cost between RM8bil and RM14bil depending on the technology used.

As for the need for the HSR, Frost & Sullivan vice-president, Asia Pacific transportation & logistics practice, and country head, Malaysia, Gopal R was quoted in StarBiz as saying the KL-Singapore link was a critical and landmark connection that needed to be established through high-speed rail.

Gopal said that with the services sector earmarked as a growth engine for the next decade, high-speed rail connectivity could greatly help organisations to leverage on the Greater KL to establish larger offices with competent workforce that could commute most effectively between KL and markets like Singapore.

HSR was a proposal that was cited as a high-impact project under the Economic Transformation Programme.

About a year ago, it was reported that a proposal for a high-speed train from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore using the magnetic levitation (maglev) technology would soon be submitted to the Government.

A maglev train system connects Shanghai's Pudong airport with the Chinese city's financial district and was the first installation of its kind in the world.

The journey of 30km takes about seven minutes. The maglev train in Shanghai can reach speeds of up to 350kph in two minutes, although new-generation trains being developed using this technology can go even faster.

The maglev proposal was reported to compete with that of the conventional high-speed rail network, an idea first mooted by the YTL Group. Its technology partner then was said to be Germany's Siemens, a global expert in high-speed rail technology.

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