KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 14— Developers of the multi-billion Forest City project in Johor are lobbying Putrajaya to build a high-speed rail (HSR) station in the area to boost development, the Straits Times (ST) reported today.
The newspaper quoted sources as saying that Country Garden, the developer of the project “is naturally hoping the HSR will stop there”, referring to Forest City.
ST said that if Country Garden’s request is fulfilled, this will become a short branch line or a spur line for HSR’s transit service in Malaysia, but without affecting the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur route.
The report said that while all proposals relating to the HSR development must be agreed by Malaysia and Singapore, the cost to extend the track’s spur line to Forest City must be borne by Malaysia.
ST also quoted a spokesperson from Singapore’s Transport Ministry saying that it has not received any request from Putrajaya to revise the HSR track alignment.
The report said that there were also plans for a ferry, road and rail links from Forest City to mainland Johor and Singapore, but there has been no confirmation whether Singapore has agreed to it.
The project from Kuala Lumpur’s Bandar Malaysia and Singapore’s Jurong East is expected to be fully operational by 2026.
Singapore and Malaysia signed a bilateral agreement to build the HSR last December.
The bullet train will cut travel time between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore to 90 minutes.
