KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is seeking proposals from local and international firms on the revival of the high-speed rail (HSR) project between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore which had been called off more than two years ago.
In a statement on Tuesday (Jul 11), MyHSR Corp said that following positive response to its initial input gathering exercise in March, the firm was now embarking on a full-fledged Request For Information (RFI) exercise to get the private sector to officially submit concept proposals to develop and operate the HSR project via a “public-private partnership model”.
MyHSR Corp – a company owned by the Minister of Finance (Incorporated) and under the supervision of Malaysia’s Transport Ministry – is responsible for the development and implementation of the project.
The company said it had earlier engaged with selected private companies during the initial information gathering stage to understand the level of interest, capabilities, and resource requirements needed to make the HSR project sustainable.
It added that to further assist the government in making informed decisions, the RFI exercise will be opened to local and international firms and consortia to submit their concept proposals.
MyHSR Corp said the exercise would allow the Malaysian government to assess the industry’s interest and ability to fully fund the project while evaluating their capabilities in developing the project by looking into areas such as technical specifications, project costing, commercial and business models, as well as consortium and governance framework.
“We are grateful to the Malaysian government for the strong support towards the KL-Singapore HSR project. The KL-Singapore HSR project will bring tremendous benefits to the people, particularly in enhancing and expanding economic dynamism from the Klang Valley to the Southern Corridor of the peninsula, and eventually to the rest of Malaysia.
“In addition to providing a new travel option that is safer, faster, more efficient and sustainable, the project will help us to contribute to the agenda of Malaysia Madani, generating long-term growth and sustainability for the people and the nation,” said MyHSR Corp chairman Fauzi Abdul Rahman in the statement.
CNA has sought comments from Singapore’s Ministry of Transport on this new development regarding the HSR.
The HSR project – which aimed to reduce travel time between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur to about 90 minutes – was discontinued after multiple postponements at Malaysia’s request and an eventual lapsing of an agreement in December 2020.
Malaysia paid more than S$102 million (US$76.25 million) in compensation to Singapore for the terminated project.
The proposed line was supposed to have a stop at Iskandar Puteri, linking the Nusajaya region within Iskandar Malaysia to Singapore, Melaka, Seremban and Kuala Lumpur.
In May, Malaysia’s Transport Minister Anthony Loke said that the government was keen to revive the project, although the model of implementation must be based on a private sector-led initiative.
At end-2021, then prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob suggested reviving discussions on the HSR, even saying in August last year that he would like to see the HSR revived at the earliest opportunity – albeit with some route changes and the possibility of extending it northwards to Thailand and China.
Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said then that Singapore was open to fresh proposals from Malaysia on the HSR.
In January 2021, while he was the opposition leader, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim called the HSR cancellation a mistake “both from a current economic standpoint and in terms of future benefits”.
Mr Anwar said that the project could have drawn in tourists, businesses as well as foreign direct investments.