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KUALA LUMPUR – A national high-speed rail network in Malaysia alone is not feasible and is likely to end in a white elephant if built, transport analysts said.
The Malaysian government, prior to the expiration of the suspension period of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail (HSR) project, announced that it will carry out a study on the feasibility of a national high-speed rail network, with the line ending at Johor Baru in Malaysia instead of Jurong East in Singapore.
Transport consultant YS Chan said that unless Malaysia has a huge population like China, a national high-speed rail network would not work.
Mr. Chan, who was previously at the Ministry of Tourism, told The Straits Times: “There are no problems with current air, rail and road connectivity (to Johor Baru).
“But if we need to spend to boost the economy and prepare for the future, extend the West Coast Expressway, now from Taiping to Banting (yet to be completed), to the West Coast to cover Port Dickson, Melaka, Muar, Batu Pahat, Pontian and Johor Baru would be a better option.
“As for the railway, the double track from Gemas, Negeri Sembilan to Johor Baru will be completed next year and we can have fast trains from Padang Besar, on the Thai border, to JB.”
In double track systems, trains run in both directions instead of sharing one track.
“Another railway line would be redundant … It is likely to become a white elephant or a long python stretching from KL to JB,” added Mr Chan.
Malaysia and Singapore had announced on Friday (January 1) that the KL-Singapore HSR project had ended.
It came after the two countries failed to agree on Malaysia’s proposed changes before the end of the suspension period on December 31 last year.
Singapore’s Ministry of Transport said in a separate statement that Malaysia had allowed the HSR bilateral agreement to lapse and that it should compensate Singapore for costs already incurred under the agreement.
The 350 km link between KL and Singapore would have cost an estimated RM60 billion to RM80 billion (S $ 19.7 billion to S $ 26.2 billion).
Scheduled for completion in 2031, it would have dramatically reduced travel time between countries, increased trade, and boosted tourism.
Cities located at key stops along the line in Malaysia expected to receive millions of ringgit in development and investment.
Explore alternatives
In a statement on Friday, the Prime Minister’s Department Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said that the Malaysian government will conduct a detailed study to explore all alternatives, including the feasibility of a national high-speed rail network.
Former Transport Minister Anthony Loke called the idea “absurd” and “redundant,” adding that there is already a train line running from JB to KL.
Intervening, former Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak called on the government to be more transparent in its plans for alternatives to the KL-Singapore HSR, without using Covid-19 or the economy as an excuse.
Meanwhile, DAP’s Johor branch urges Putrajaya to propose a replacement transportation infrastructure project to boost the state’s economic growth and improve regional connectivity.
Public transport researcher SM Ismail SM Sabri said the government should now reestablish and explore alternatives to a national high-speed rail network.
These could include an upgrade of the existing Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) national rail network and an extension of the Inter-City Electric Train Service (ETS) system, to extend from KL to JB.
“The study should, of course, include comparisons of the feasibility of a KL-JB HSR system (with revised alignment in Johor) versus the upgrade of the current KL-JB double track metric gauge railway.
“I don’t see any good terminal location in JB for a separate KL-JB HSR (but) if a ‘higher’ speed train is really needed in JB, upgrading the KTM ETS and KL-JB metric gauge tracks would generate more sense, “he told ST.
Like Mr. Chan, Mr. Sabri said that even without an ETS network upgrade, to enable high-speed trains, the completion of the Gemas-JB electric double-track project will allow ETS trains to run from KL to JB.
“It would provide a much easier train service for passengers from KL to JB, without having to change trains at Gemas (in Negeri Sembilan).
“If both options (revised HSR alignment and an ETS upgrade) are not financially or economically viable, then we really don’t need them,” he added.
The ETS Gems project, at a cost of RM10 billion, would link the capital city of Johor with KL and all the way north to Padang Besar in Perlis.
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