KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 29 — Malaysia said completion of a high-speed rail link between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore may take six to seven years once construction starts by 2016, using government land as much as possible to avoid property-acquisition disputes.

The project may finish two to three years later than the 2020 deadline announced by the countries’ leaders in 2013, Land Public Transport Commission Chairman Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar said in an interview yesterday. The agency has been “inundated” with proposals to participate, including those from French, Japanese, Chinese and German companies, he said.

“It’s not as expensive as we thought it would be at the start,” said Syed Hamid, whose commission is studying the project’s feasibility. He declined to provide an estimated cost for the development, saying it would be comparable to “international benchmarks” for similar systems and distance.

The proposed rail line will reduce the 300-kilometre journey over land to 90 minutes from about five hours. With other developing nations in the region including Indonesia and the Philippines vying for a bigger share of investment, Malaysia is keen to make better use of Singapore’s financial muscle as it targets becoming a high-income country as early as 2020.

The high-speed rail may operate four times hourly with two services, one non-stop and the other that will transit cities and towns in four Malaysian states, Syed Hamid said. The journey on the train that has stops will take about two hours, according to the former Malaysian cabinet minister.

Challenging timeline

While Malaysia initially targeted 2020 for the high-speed line to be completed to coincide with its plan to be a developed nation, it recognises there may be “problems” with the original timeline, Syed Hamid said. There are more elements than just construction that the governments need to study, he said.

Japan is ready to provide funds and expertise to Malaysia and Singapore on the new network, the New Straits Times said October 27, citing railway official Tomohiro Kobayashi. Kobayashi said the timeline for the project to be completed by 2020 is challenging, the paper reported.

Japan is looking for an overseas customer for magnetic-levitation technology as the country works toward opening its first line in 2027. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said the government may provide funding to support Central Japan Railway Co.’s bid to provide trains for a Washington-Baltimore line.

Beyond fares

JR Central, as the rail operator is known, operates the world’s busiest bullet train line and this month received approval from the Japanese government to start building a maglev link between Tokyo and Nagoya. The plan will cost ¥5.5 trillion (RM167 billion), including trains with speeds of up to 500 kilometres per hour.

The Land Public Transport Commission has studied various financing and business models for the network, including consideration for public-private partnerships, said Syed Hamid, who visited Japan recently to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Shinkansen bullet train. The Malaysia-Singapore system will have at least four trains, he said.

Malaysia will look beyond ticket sales to bolster returns on investment in the project, including the contribution to the economy as smaller cities along the train line flourish, Syed Hamid said. He cited Shanghai’s Pudong district and the Chinese city of Tianjin as examples.

“If you depend on the fares alone, then it cannot be profitable,” Syed Hamid said. “It must be kept affordable. You need to look at what are the sources of income that will result from the development of the rail stations, the property along it, how the towns and cities will grow.”

Parts of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore rail link may be built on elevated platforms and portions of it underground to minimise disputes the government may encounter on land acquisitions, Syed Hamid said. The line will try to avoid villages and private properties, he said.

“It’s emotion, sentiment,” Syed Hamid said. “There are so many big, big government projects — while economically and development-wise it is well-accepted, it is good — but there is a lot of public tension sometimes that you need to handle. So our brief and mandate is, avoid as much as possible.” — Bloomberg