KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 12 — Malaysia and Singapore will build their respective portions of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) link’s track, the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) has said.
SPAD chief executive officer Mohd Azharuddin Mat Sah told a forum yesterday that the two countries will appoint one company each to build the tracks for the bullet train link.
“Malaysia’s tracks will be covered by Malaysia.
“While, on Singapore’s side, they are going to do (build) it on their own,” he was reported as saying by The Star daily today.
Azharuddin said the Malaysian government would appoint an asset management company for the HSR, with its job scope to include the construction and maintenance of the HSR’s signalling and communications network.
He also said a company will be appointed to operate the HSR, with this operator to pay the required fees to the railway construction companies and the asset-management company.
“These are the three main ‘structures’ for the HSR. We will sign a binding agreement with Singapore by the end of this year,” he said.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of the Economic Planning Unit, Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan, had, on July 19, said that Malaysia is committed to completing the HSR by 2026.
He also said the financing for the rail project would be shared between both countries based on an “equitable fair percentage”, while the local funding of the project would be divided between Putrajaya and the private sector.
The 350km rail line, which will reduce travel time between the two countries to just 90 minutes, with speeds of over 300kmh, will have eight stations — Bandar Malaysia, Putrajaya, Seremban, Ayer Keroh, Muar, Batu Pahat, Iskandar Puteri and Singapore.
