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Malaysia-Singapore bullet train project takes a step forward

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One of Taiwan's famous bullet trains. Credit: Wayne0216 / Shutterstock.com
One of Taiwan’s famous bullet trains. Credit: Wayne0216 / Shutterstock.com

We’ve been hearing about this High Speed Rail connecting Singapore and Malaysia for a while now. The bullet-train project was proposed in 2010 and various feasibility studies were carried out. In 2014, Malaysia and Singapore announced that the project would be underway soon and the expected completion date was 2020. However, the process of launching the project took longer than expected.

Yesterday, 19th July, the HSR project finally took a major step forward. Singapore and Malaysia signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) and announced a new target completion date, 2026.

The HSR is will travel 350km between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur with stops in Bandar Malaysia, Seremban, Ayer Keroh, Muar, Batu Pahat, Nusajaya and Jurong East in Singapore. The train will cut short the current five hours journey of travelling from KL to Singapore by car. In a quote by Prime Minister Najib Razak on Coconuts KL, the PM said that this rail project will mean a person can enjoy “breakfast in KL, lunch in Singapore, and dinner back in KL again”.

Of course, HSR project will also open up a whole host of education and working opportunities as well for nationals in both countries. Congestion at airports will be reduced as travelling by train will likely be cheaper than flying, and traffic at the Johor-Singapore border will finally get some needed relief.

According to a Bloomberg report, a tender for the project will be issued next year. Already, China and Japan are showing a great deal of interest in securing the bid for the project. Japan has been building high-speed rails for a few decades now and China houses the largest high-speed rail network in the world.





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Comments

Jimmy Singh

PREPAPRE TO go hell faster

Alicia Noelle Anthony

Chloe Chia Nellie Wong now can go universal studios d

Nellie Wong

Oh got stop in Melaka.

Chloe Chia

Alicia Noelle Anthony you bring your anak la.

Alicia Noelle Anthony

what Anak, I don’t want Anak I bring yours help u abiit? Chloe Chia

Chloe Chia

i dun go theme park. i rather stay home and sleep.

Alicia Noelle Anthony

Chloe Chia hahaha #likeabawse

Tommy Chin

Boring! Not a big news anymore!

Jean-Paul Mouton

Why are u using a picture if Taiwan’s HSR?

ExpatGo

Were you expecting a picture of a Malaysian HSR? Because it doesn’t exist yet.

Elise C

But then the ticket fare will be too expensive … and company will claim losses / increase fare just as KLIA express.
It doesn’t make sense for the station to be in Putrajaya a great distance from Airport/ City.
Inconvenience.

Chon Wah

Hopefully hopefully..

Jacky Wong

Who will win the bid. Most likely the chinese will get it but i hope the japanese will win.

Ilya Houben

No stop in Malacca? Shame…:(

Ilya Houben

I’d love to be able to do brunch in Malacca and lunch back in KL 🙂

ExpatGo

There will be one stop in Malacca, in Ayer Keroh.

Charaf Salmi

5h by car ? I used to do it in 2h45 – 3h on a regular basis… it depends on your type of car.

ExpatGo

5 hours, taking into account jams and congestion at the border. 🙂

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