Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail Project suspended until Dec 31

Malaysia and Singapore have agreed to postpone the construction of 350 km long High Speed Rail (HSR) project between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore again until the end of the year.

The construction of the HSR project has been suspended since September 2018 and was due to resume at the end of May but now further suspended till December 31, 2020.

Mr. Khaw Boon Wan, Singapore Transport Minister, informed through his Facebook post on Sunday (31 May) that a seven month extension was requested by Malaysia to discuss and assess the changes to the project.

He posted, “In the spirit of bilateral cooperation, we have agreed to a final extension of the suspension period to 31 December 2020. This should provide sufficient time for Malaysia to clarify its proposal and for both sides to assess the implications of the proposed changes.”

For the same, Mohamed Azmin Ali, Malaysia’s Minister of International Trade and Industry, said in a media release on Sunday (May 31), “The government of Malaysia and the government of Singapore have agreed to resume discussions on the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high speed rail infrastructure project in the near future.”

Both Ministers have agreed to enclose some of the proposed changes in the commercial and technical aspects of the project. The proposed HSR line project aims to reduce travel time between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur from the current 11 hours on existing train services to around half an hour by HSR line. During the operations, the line will offer an express service between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, a domestic service from Kuala Lumpur to Iskandar Puteri and a shuttle service from Iskandar Puteri to Jurong East.