M'sia-S'pore high-speed rail link 'engagement process' to be completed by Q4

Malaysian Prime Minister, Dato Sri' Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak attending the MoU signing ceremony between SPAD's chief executive officer, Mohd Nur Ismail Mohamed Kamal with Institute Rail Signal Engineers president David Weedon at the KL Convention Centre on Sept. 10, 2013.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is aiming to complete the engagement process with Singapore for the construction of the KL-Singapore high-speed rail (HSR) link by the fourth quarter of this year, said the Land Public Transport Commission’s (SPAD) chief executive officer Mohd Nur Kamal.

“We are just starting the engagement process with Singapore. The negotiations will start soon.

“We are targeting to (complete) somewhere between the third and fourth quarters of this year,” he said.

When asked at a press conference at Rail Business Asia 2013 if the HSR would be impacted by the Government’s pending plans to keep the country’s expenditure in check, Mohd Nur said: “As of the current information we have received, we do not expect it to be impacted by that (reduction in expenditure).”

SPAD chairman Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar, meanwhile, said that it was still “too early” to talk about dishing out tenders or project costs, as the finalisation of key details of the HSR project was still pending.

“If everything remains the same, then we are still targeting for it to be completed by 2020,” he said.

KL-Singapore rail tender open to international bidders

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak yesterday confirmed that the tender for the high-speed rail (HSR) link between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore will be opened to international bidders.

He said the Malaysian and Singaporean governments are in the process of deciding on the modality, way forward and procedure for execution.

“We expect this to be a very transparent, open bidding system in which companies from all over the world are free to participate,” he said at a joint press conference with his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault, here, yesterday.

On the rail industry in Malaysia, Najib said Malaysia is embarking on extensive rail development, such as the multi-billion Klang Valley mass rapid transit project and the HSR project, which is targeted for completion by 2020.

The rail link is expected to cost around RM40 billion, including RM10 billion to buy high-speed bullet trains.

Earlier, Najib and Ayrault witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Malaysian Industry-Government
Group for High Technology (MIGHT) and Thales, a global technology leader for aerospace and transportation markets, for the development of the country’s rail industry.

With more than RM160 billion government investment expected in the industry until 2020, the MoU will address human capital competency issues.

In a statement yesterday, MIGHT said the MoU is aimed at supporting the government’s commitment to the development of Malaysia’s public transport system via the Rail Centre of
Excellence (RCOE).