On December 13, the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail bilateral agreement was signed in Putrajaya, Malaysia, setting the stage for design and construction until service begins by 2026.
The agreement was signed by the Singapore’s Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure Khaw Boon Wan and Malaysian Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Abdul Rahman Dahlan. The signing was witnessed by Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak.
Five months ago it was signed a memorandum of understanding for the implementation of the project.
The USD 16 billion project involves the construction of a 350 km double-track line cutting the time travel between the Singapore and Kuala Lumpur to 90 minutes with the high-speed train travelling at speeds of over 300 km/h.
The line will have 8 stations with terminals in Bandar Malaysia and Singapore, and 6 intermediate stations in Putrajaya, Seremban, Ayer Keroh, Muar, Batu Pahat and Iskandar Puteri. All stations will be designed to integrate with the local public transport systems to ensure seamless connectivity.
Both Governments agreed that each will take responsibility for developing, constructing and maintaining the civil infrastructure and stations within their own countries, which will be undertaken by MyHSR Corporation and LTA (as InfraCos) in Malaysia and Singapore respectively. Through international tenders, an assets company (AssetsCo) will be appointed to provide and maintain the HSR trains and its associated systems (track, power, signalling and telecommunications), while two train operating companies (OpCos) will be appointed to operate the HSR services. OpCo International will operate the cross-border services, while OpCo Domestic will operate the domestic service within Malaysia.
Next year, both countries will call a joint tender for a privately-financed assets company to design, build, finance and maintain the rolling stock and rail assets, such as the track work, power, signalling and telecommunications systems.
They will also jointly award a tender for a joint development partner early next year to provide advice on operational, technical and procurement matters.
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