Earlier this week, Malaysia scrapped the KL-Singapore high-speed rail (HSR) project, with prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad saying so in a foreign media interview. The unilateral decision was made without the knowledge of the cabinet, as hinted at by transport minister Anthony Loke, and also caught joint venture partner Singapore by surprise.
The PM has since elaborated on the HSR issue after a cabinet meeting this morning, explaining that the country cannot afford mega projects that aren’t beneficial. “If the country is to avoid bankruptcy, we must learn how to manage our big debts and one of the ways is to do away with projects that are not beneficial to us,” he said.
According to Channel NewsAsia, Mahathir said the government decided to cancel HSR, considering its high financial implications, subject to discussion with the Singapore government. Asked if Malaysia would reconsider its decision if its southern neighbour could prove that the project would benefit Malaysia, he said: “We will listen to them. They are our good partner.”
In a separate CNA interview with Loke, the transport minister said that Malaysia could revisit the HSR project when its financial position is better.
“As the prime minister has said this morning, the cancellation of the HSR is subject to negotiation and discussions with the Singapore government. But of course, why we cancelled the project is because of affordability. The priority of the government is to pay our debts and the ability to repay our debts, that is our main priority, that’s why some of these projects must be shelved.
“But of course, it’s subject to review. I mean if we are in a better position later on. But as of now, the decision has been made to cancel the project. But a lot of discussions and negotiations have to be made with the Singapore government,” he said.
On benefits versus affordability, he said: “I think the questions of benefits and so on is polemic. Of course there are different interpretations, different opinions and so on. Of course any infrastructure project, you can’t say there’s no benefit at all but I think the question now is affordability.
“The priority of the new government is to clean up the mess of the previous government. And the number one priority is to make sure our finances are back to healthy, back to a healthy stage and our ability to pay government loans and debts is our number one priority. We do not want to add on to debts and the pressure on the government,” he added.
Signed in December 2016, the HSR was planned as a 350 km-long double-track route (335 km of which was supposed to be in Malaysia, and 15 km in Singapore) with eight stops in total – Singapore, Iskandar Puteri, Batu Pahat, Muar, Ayer Keroh, Seremban, Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur. The trains were projected to run at average speeds of 300 km/h and bring down the rail travel time between KL and Singapore to 90 minutes.
Meanwhile, Loke revealed that the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) will proceed, although Malaysia is looking at lowering the project’s costs.
“The RTS will proceed. Of course we have to restudy the project in terms of cost and so on. But as a principled decision, the RTS is still on the table. I was made to understand that the cost of the project is RM4 billion for the Malaysian government, but of course we are looking at how to reduce cost. We have just made the decision, we have to initiate negotiations and discussions with our counterparts in Singapore,” he said.
Agreed and signed upon in January this year, the four-kilometre cross-border MRT system will run from Bukit Chagar in Johor to the Woodlands North station in Singapore. It will be able to ferry up to 10,000 passengers per hour in each direction, and is scheduled for completion by 2024, replacing today’s KTM Link.
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I hope they cancel the tunnel project, LRT, MRT planned in Penang as well. Those projects are expensive and will not be beneficial to us Malaysian as well.
penang in need of these project as lrt/mrt is not in penang before and penang traffic is getting worse with more tourist and working population in penang.
tunnel in penang is also another good project but i guess need subject to affordability, it help to reduce Penang Bridge 1 traffic. Jambatan Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah aka Penang second bridge is not helping, most people still using penang bridge 1 due to most ppl stay at sg petani area and working area in penang island is mostly on the northern side. even those who work at southern penang island industrial area mostly travel to sg petani area or mayb butterworth.
Tunnel can split the trafic who work in georgetown area to use tunnel and industrial workers can use penang bridge 1,
until now you can see penang bridge 1 traffic still very heavy especially at from 3pm – 8 pm working days. and penang bridge 2 is empty
The Penang project are not funded by federal government.
Well, now its gonna be for sure.
Pity Tun, he must clear all the mess and hutang of the previous Government. Hutang sampai RM1 trillion. Poor 93 year old man. He has a big job to clean up all the corruption in Malaysia
Rob country 1st time under pretense of nationalism.
Rob country 2nd time under pretense of saving MY.
Hahahaha! MY memang mudah lupa.
Guess mahathir should had been education minister. Too many uneducated people around.
Here a question do you know how much debt to GDP ratio rich sussesful countries like Japan or Singapore has?
HAHAHAHA! Just another way of saying need to lineup own cronies for the job before relaunching the “responsible” & “transparent” projek. Lets see how basher justify his overlord uturn.
relaunching the project under new contractors is ok, IF the cost is LOWER compare to previously.
Check if there’re any malpractices, kickbacks, if found, we shall take action on Singapore and seek compensation in reverse. haha
ETS benefit jb, HSR benefit SG and KL
waste of money HSR. Who can afford RM1000 tickets? Just to make kroni rich only
Small-minded fools can’t afford it. But people with businesses in both KL and Singapore see it as a tremendous blessing, a big boost to our business ties. People who are earning below the median salary and slogging it off daily at shitty jobs won’t understand that HSR is an alternative to KL-Singapore flights and not an RM5-per-trip joyride machine.
How do you know the ticket will be RM 1000? Seems like propaganda machine still running…
Rubbish… where did u get that number…? Projected ticket price around RM200 for full one way trip.
KL-SG comuters on flight already paying RM80-RM160 on budget airways… RM170-RM500 on full service flights. So ticket price for the HSR are not that far off considering u spend less time on the trip not needing to check in much earlier before boarding and then travel to n fro the airports since all HSR stations are within commercial centres… the 2 ending terminus would have been in the new Jurong East cbd and Bandar M’sia.
You’re just being emotional with ur comments and not even knowing the facts involved.
Yeah.. spin abis2
Saya putar ye, Halim?
Dr M said one thing, but DAP said other thing.
Why its taking so long to replace ktm jb- tg pagar with the smrt? 14 years.
Tg pagar? No more already bro, now only reach woodland
9 tahun pegang malaysia. Mula2 sibuk satu malaysia tak sudah2, lepas skandal 1mdb dah dibongkar kat us, switzerland, luxembourg, singapore barulah nak buat projek mega kaw2 macam kena cucuk steroid. Ecrl 55 billion, hsr 80 billion jalan serentak dengan banyak projek billion2 lain. Jepun pun tiga dekad untuk bangunkan shikansen najib pulak nak sekali jalan semua
I wonder how much it would cost to make a HSR from Penang to Sg.
4 bilions for only 4 km?? very expensive
ktm jb- tg pagar mrt? Should hv scrap oso otherwise you cant ever build overhead bridge and will never allow ships passing strait tebrau. I feel that dap has big conflict opinion with tun m.
Should the country has no debt issue and below 1 trillion, dap will oso ask tun m to continue the hsr, ecrl. Dap cronies oso got interests on those mega projects too. Dap oso want their brothers pap in singapore to enjoy malaysia land and properties.
One must not bite off more than he can chew. If we don’t have enuff $$$ to start/build a project, we should not borrow Big Time to finance a project when we are already in Big debts. The interest alone are in billions per year.
In other words, if you don’t have enough money to buy a house cash, don’t take a 30-year bank loan even though you can fully pay it up in 30 years or less and the asset that you own despite the huge loan will appreciate in value over time, and in the end you get higher returns than what you’ve put in?
Ok I see your logic there.
Hahaha! Mikey boy must be forever frustrated on how to buy car and house by cash alone! Great one, DK!
DK, I tot U are a smart man. Now I’m having 2nd thought. A house is a necessity hence U buy it to house your family even if it takes a lifetime paying. That is called responsibility.
HSR is a project we can do it WHEN we have the $$$ later. It’s not a Zero sum game. Your house loan is paid by U only.
The HSR mega loan is bare by ALL M’sian. Please know the difference between NEEDS & Wants B4 shooting.
& john, FYI, I don’t have to pay for my cars & house anymore. TQVM for your concern. Hehehe. Cheers…
HSR is a nice project but rail is also getting obsolete. I suggest Malaysia and Singapore explore and study using Hyperloop system for this. its all under ground its very fast and its the latest technology. USA and Europe all testing and even Dubai in the desert are looking in to this. just a suggestion.
LOL tunneling all the way from KL to Singapore? RM72 billion project has been turned into an unaffordable debt. Such a hyperloop system will cost over RM1 trillion!
SMART Tunnel itself costs us almost RM2 billion back in 2007 when land acquisition was cheaper, for just 4km of motorways excluding the water-carrying tunnels. It would easily be over 3 times the cost if done today due to increases in land acquisition costs. Let’s assume it will cost RM5 billion today, for 4km of transport-carrying tunnels. A distance of almost 360km would mean that the tunnel cost would come up to at least RM450 billion. And that’s without all the other anciliaries e.g. hyperloop stations, those insane vacuum pumps, the non-existent maglev tracks, etc. Not forgetting, a hyperloop tunnel will need to have seamlessly-welded steel inner tunnels because we can’t just bring a concrete tunnel with all its gaps down to the needed vacuum levels. So, we’ll need a steel inner cladding for 360km of the concrete tunnel.
Yep, a KL-Singapore hyperloop will definitely cost over RM1 trillion..
Hyperloop system is too new and still in POC stage.. I’m pretty sure the cost per pax is in tens or hundreds time more expensive than HSR.
Hyperloop system is a scam, even American don’t trust them
Any international businesses intending to set up shop in malaysia will look at connectivity. KLIA cannot hope to compete with singapore and bangkok as a travel hub.
MAS has terminated most of its international flights apart from within asia effectively becoming a regional rather than international airline. Travellers outside of the region therefore will rely mostly on codeshare flights to get to malaysia. Economics of the HSR aside, it promises vastly improved connectivity for travellers and therefore the possibility of increased foreign direct investments into our economy. Many railways do not manage to operate profitably but they do bring indirect and sometimes intangible benefits.
Sad to see paultan.org comments section are now being overwhelm by BN cybertroopers nasty pathetic loser comments and fake likes. Do they think their full blown indiscreminate attacks here gonna change the public opinion or perhaps the election result? Hope PT can regulate this unhealthy scenario before its bring this wonderful site to its knees.
Sad to see paultan.org comments section are now being overwhelm by PH cybertroopers nasty pathetic loser comments and fake likes. Do they think their full blown indiscriminate support here gonna continue to fool the public and can continue this foolery til the next election? Hope PT can regulate this unhealthy scenario before its bring this wonderful site to its knees.