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KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian government said on Friday (November 27) that it has not yet finalized plans for the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail (HSR) project after a news report stated that it was considering changes to that the line ended at Johor Baru. and not Singapore.
Economic Affairs Minister Mustapa Mohamed said the government has made several new proposals to “improve” the project, saying that both Malaysia and Singapore have until December 31 to negotiate the matter.
“Referring to some of the recently released news about the HSR project, Malaysia and Singapore are still in the process of negotiating on some proposals put forward by Malaysia to improve this project,” it said in a statement.
“Both countries have until December 31, 2020 to lead the negotiation process. The government will make an announcement once a decision is made and the negotiations are completed,” he added.
The ministry’s statement comes two days after the Free Malaysia Today (FMT) news portal reported that Malaysia is considering changing the KL-Singapore HSR project so that the line ends in Johor Baru, rather than Singapore.
This would mean that the project, first announced in 2010, would resume without Singapore’s involvement.
The project has been suspended twice at the request of Malaysia.
The first extension in September 2018 was due to end in May 2020, but it was extended for the second and last time, until December 31 of this year.
FMT had also reported that its two sources were critical of the latest change, with one saying it would cast doubt on the sustainability of the project.
The source noted that the project was touted as a game changer on one of the busiest air routes in the world. He said terminating the line at Johor Baru would create redundancy, given that there are future plans to connect KL Sentral train station to JB Sentral station with trains traveling up to 160km / h under the Malaysian railway operator’s electric train service project. KTM.
Singapore’s Ministry of Transport, in response to media inquiries about the report, confirmed that Malaysia had proposed some changes to the project, saying that Singapore has been discussing them in good faith with Malaysia and will remain fully committed to meeting its commitments. obligations under the RSS. Bilateral agreement.
If Malaysia does not proceed with the project by December 31, it will bear the agreed costs incurred by Singapore to comply with the agreement.
The agreement was signed in December 2016, witnessed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and then-Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in Putrajaya.
But after a change of government following Malaysia’s 2018 general election, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad initially wanted to scrap the HSR as part of a review of his country’s mega-projects.
The Pakatan Harapan administration later clarified that it wanted to delay the start of construction, as a cancellation would have involved a large amount of compensation under the HSR agreement.
In July, Prime Minister Lee said that the basic thinking behind the HSR – that Singapore and KL are two cities with important ties and that improved connectivity will lead to more business and closer ties – remained true.
The proposed 350km rail line would reduce travel time between KL and Singapore to 90 minutes, compared to more than four hours by car.
It would also cut the current end-to-end travel time of about five hours by air in half.
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