S'pore-KL bullet train may miss 2020 deadline

Kuala Lumpur

MALAYSIA said the high-speed rail link between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore may miss a 2020 deadline even after using government land as much as possible to avoid property-acquisition disputes.

The project may take six to seven years to complete once construction starts by 2016, Land Public Transport Commission chairman Syed Hamid Albar said on Tuesday. The agency has been "inundated" with proposals to participate, including those from French, Japanese, Chinese and German companies, he said.