It appears the KL-Singapore high-speed rail (HSR) project will not be cancelled but instead be postponed for the future. This was revealed by prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad during an interview with Nikkei Asian Review recently.
“There will be a need for high-speed rail in the future, probably right through the peninsula. But we cannot afford it at this moment. So we actually postponed the implementation of that project. High-speed trains are most effective where the distance is very long. But where the distance is short, it doesn’t contribute much. So we need to rethink high-speed rail,” said Mahathir.
In late May this year, Mahathir told Financial Times that the HSR project would be dropped entirely in an effort to “do away with some of the unnecessary projects” in order to reduce government expenditure.
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. A bridge over the Straits of Johor – with a height clearance of 25 metres – would have linked the line between both countries.
Trains on the service were expected to run 10 car-long trains, with the capacity for up to 100 passengers per car. These 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.
“We cannot say we will never have high-speed rail in Malaysia. What we can do is we can postpone the project because it is far too costly at this moment,” added Mahathir.
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Wawasan 2020 also unfortunately postponed to 2025 due to bad policies by previous govt. Rakyat fully support HSR & Harapan for Malaysia!
Huh.. Originally said scrapped, dropped etc.. Now only say postpone. So, which is which? Public transport should be given a priority rather than 3rd National car project which can cost the government more than RM100 billion in total.
Salty much ngan postpone. Lolz.
You have to understand tun M condition. in malaysia of course he said the gov have to scrapped the project. but when meeting with the japanese prime minister, he has to said it was postpone. malaysia won’t get loan from japan if we said we want to cancel the project. later when he come back from japan, he will explain everything. you just keep calm and let te gov do their job.
Hahahaha! Wawasan Kroni incoming soon.
Got no kroni la abang. Tun M and PH care for the rakyat. The penalty by Singapore is too heavy. Are you going to pay for it? You only talk big here.
Tun knows best. Now they know they going to get a lot of dedak back from the previous highly corrupted Government. After they get the hundreds of billions back, then they can re start the project.
They get back all the dedak, only to give to their cronies instead of the rakyat..
Obviously you dont know tun m cronies in proton during his reign previously. Thats why he came up with the 3rd national car idea to save his cronies since geely discard all his cronies because of the exorbitant price for proton’ s parts
Haha. Ni mamat mesti lahir lepas tahun 2000. Pengetahuan am tersangat cetek dan tak tau kronisma PM ke-4 yang bertapak sejak permulaan lagi.
Bro rajoo Selvam… you are so confident with atok Tua. He always said different statements everyday everytime. Can you believe this atok Tua? No, I am not macai and just agree anything with his idea. We are rakyat. No more kerajaan always right. Now is the time kerajaan should listen to rakyat.
born yesterday meh?
Wow.. does this mean we no longer need to bayar balik Temasik?
Nope.. MY Baru didn’t pull out.
Tun may have found a loophole to get out of paying cancellation fees lol… Don’t mess with this old man!
Err yeah. By not cancelling the project which takes us back to square 1 except for the internation hoo haa and posturing. Right..
it buys us time to nego for 30% discount, which the previous government didnt do. and it also avoids paying compensation to singapore. clever.
We understand our country in dire financial state. As long our free World Cup telecast is not postponed^^
Aiyoo, try to understand Tun M’s statement. He didn’t say the KL-SG HSR is postponed, the first HSR in Malaysia is postponed. As he said, “probably right through peninsula”.
When the HSR comes back again, most likely it won’t be the same as the current KL-SG planned route. Mahathir might even just want a line from Kedah, Penang, Perak, KL,Selangor, N9, Melaka and ending in Johor with just one or two stations in each state. As Tun said, a HSR is only feasible when the route is long. I guess 300km KL-SG is too short for Tun M.
Don’t jilat too much. You don’t know head or tail.
U are the smartest one here bcos U read the article well. Many bash Tun M B4 reading the article.
When the news came out, Tun M’s machais fully supported this statement 100%. Condemned everything about HSR. Some bodohs even told me, they rather drive, flights are better. As someone who travels very often between SG, KL Jakarta, paying RM1,000 for a return flight KL-SG is madness and only serves the airlines. HSR will benefit business between KL-SG and is a threat to Jakarta and Bangkok as companies will more readily build their hubs in KL rather than BKK or Jkt.
In short, get out of your BN mentality and start thinking and referring to experts before showing blind support. Only BN bootlickers do that.
Some bootlickers did. Not all. Most of us sane ones questioned why the HSR was too expensive and if we can afford it.
Hahaha! Talk about PH lickers but complain ini salahan BN. Macai oh macai. Get out of your PH licker mentality and see reality.
to analyse your statement further , paying 1k for a flight is if you book late during peak season. taking flight you are at the mercy of the airline. for HSR the price will still be rather expensive, but at least it “should” be consistent instead of fluctuating.
Kena marah dengan jepun la tu
In short, it is far too costly at this moment due to mounting debts left by the past Govt. 1MDB had practically gotten away MY pipu HSR. Sigh…
Err that dun even have any logic. If 1MDB had took away money from HSR, how come previous gov can go ahead for it and even convince the other party to take part? Really topsy turvy logic dude.
stastasta cekap…
because the previous gov take lots of loans from china banks, and simply give out guarantee letters which will de facto become gov debt.
When its backed by assets, it isnt debt, unless the asset is valued lower than the loans. Do u consider housing loans as debts or liabilities?
I am certain that TM, with his love for Japan, is well aware of the potential for the HSR project. The only stumbling block is that HSR is a Najib initiation and pet project, and TM doesnt want to be seen as a babysitter for Najib, which is why Dr M is so eager to “cancel” “postpone” or whatever you call it. Ultimately all the reasoning and comment coming from PH are just excuses. 1) How would the PH government know the true cost before receiving the bid from Japan, Korea, China and European consortium? 2) Why cant the government wait till tender were submitted before making a decision on the HSR since there is no cost for waiting? 3) How would they know the economic multiplying effect of the HSR before studying the proposal and the agreement? 4) Is the current transport minister even qualify to make the judgement call? Did the government engaged any rail experts and consultant to review the economic benefits of HSR? 5) 350km is in fact the best distant for HSR, as its neither too short nor too long. If its too long, then flying will become faster isnt it? The PH government should stop embrassing Malaysia with kampong economic to decide on HSR project. Please serve the country not the political party