SINGAPORE, May 5 — Singapore and Malaysia are reassessing a 2020 target for the completion of a high-speed rail project linking the two countries because of the scale and complexity of the venture.

A new timeline will be available by the end of the year, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said at a joint press conference with his Malaysian counterpart Datuk Seri Najib Razak in the city state today. The initial target needs to be studied as it will take at least two years to design and put out tenders for the project and another five for construction, Najib said.

The proposed rail line linking Singapore and Kuala Lumpur will reduce the 300-kilometre journey over land to 90 minutes from about five hours. Leaders of the two countries announced in 2013 the rail link may be completed by the end of this decade, with Najib calling it a “huge game changer” that will transform the way the neighbours do business.

The link would have a similar distance as New York to Washington. Malaysia’s Land Public Transport Commission chairman Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar said last year that the high-speed rail link may miss a 2020 deadline even after using government land as much as possible to avoid property-acquisition disputes.

Singapore and Malaysia need to decide on operational issues such as who will own and run the trains, as well as iron out details including engineering and financial issues, Lee said today. — Bloomberg