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PETALING JAYA: Transportation experts have poured cold water on rumors of plans for the proposed high-speed rail line to terminate at Johor Baru, saying the project would be doomed if it stopped before Singapore.
FMT had reported, citing high-level sources, that Malaysia planned to build the line to Johor Bahru instead of Singapore. Since then, officials have said the talks are continuing, but did not specifically comment on the report.
Transportation consultant Goh Bok Yen said that if the speculation was correct, the project could be scrapped entirely as it would likely fail.
He said those who wanted the line to end at JB did not see the bigger picture, which was connecting the two mega economies of Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, which was mutually beneficial on many levels for both countries.
Goh said that the spill from the HSR would be tremendous, as KL would be a “hinterland” for Singapore, while for Malaysians, the republic would be a gateway to an international market.
“And the concept of the HSR is that when a passenger enters an HSR terminal on either side, immigration clearance is obtained immediately, since the officers from each country are stationed at both ends of the terminal.
“This allows you to practically walk from KL directly onto the streets of Singapore without the hassle of going through immigration. But if the train ends at JB it will do more harm than good, ”he said.
Goh said the KL-JB express bus services and KTM rail services would be affected.
“KTM can practically serve the KL-JB route with its 160 km / h electric train service. It has a dual track and can be modified so that it does not stop anywhere in between, while buses can serve smaller cities, ”he said.
If the HSR goes as planned to Singapore, it would only compete with air travel. He said airlines would be forced to change their ways of competing, offering connecting flights with fewer delays, similar to the busy air routes linking major European cities.
Goh said running an HSR service to JB would make the multi-billion ringgit project a waste, when construction and land acquisition costs are taken into account.
“In the end, you are intimidating the small carriers, ironically with taxpayer money. I mean, if for some reason we can end up in Singapore, let’s make it up to them and get out of it.
“It is a company that generates long-term losses, it is better to stop it than go in the wrong direction,” he said.
Goh said that in the long term, the HSR would go beyond KL, with a possible next phase to Penang and later to Bangkok, to generate a growth corridor that would immensely boost the economy.
Universiti Sains Malaysia transportation engineering professor Ahmad Farhan Mohd Sadullah said withdrawing from Singapore would change the outlook on the project, which was justified for the project. He said it is best to go back to the original intention of the HSR, which is to encourage travel to KL and Singapore.
Entrepreneurs want HSR to end in Singapore, not JB
Johor’s industry captains seem not as keen on having JB as the HSR’s last stop.
Loh Liam Hiang from China’s Johor Bahru Chamber of Commerce and Industry said: “Both countries agreed that the route would be KL to Singapore. What’s the point of changing it now? “
Christina Tee from the International Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia said that JB was easily accessible via the existing KTM railway and by roads. Having the HSR end there would defeat its purpose.
Johor India Business Association head P Sivakumar said the idea of the HSR was to get more foreign investment to flow into the country. “Singapore has already spent money to start the project, it is not fair for Malaysia to change plans midway,” he said.
Tan Seng Leong of the China Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Malaysia said the government should have decided on the change earlier, before a Rapid Transit System link was proposed to connect JB and Singapore.
Tan said that the RTS was more than enough to connect JB with Singapore and that there are other efficient ways to get to JB from KL.
K Krishnan from the Johor Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that all is not lost if the HSR stops at JB as RTS could transfer passengers to Singapore.
