High-speed rail link proposal gets yet another airing
There is considerable Malaysian opposition to the prospect of a HSR between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. Who would foot the bill?
THE proposal for a high-speed rail (HSR) link between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur seems to be one of those ideas that refuse to die, despite all that has happened over the years. To go back a bit, a KL-Singapore HSR link was first mooted in the 1990s, with an estimated cost of about RM5 billion (S$1.5 billion today).
It took more than 20 years for the project to be seriously considered, and by 2013 the estimated cost had ballooned to RM30 billion. A binding agreement with Singapore was finally reached in December 2016, involving a 350 km-long rail line with purported train speeds of up to 350 kmh. The aim was to have the line operational by 2026.
The outbreak of Covid-19 and the election of a different coalition government led to multiple postponements at Malaysia’s request. Eventually, the agreement was abrogated in December 2020. Malaysia paid about S$102 million in compensation to Singapore for breaking the deal.
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