The Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) was first proposed in the late 90s, but was shelved due to the high costs. Proposed again in the year 2010, negotiations continued all the way to the year 2013 before the HSR rail plan was officialised.
Construction was expected to begin in the third quarter of 2015 but was once again postponed to the year 2017 as negotiations with China continued. With the agreements expected to be signed in the year 2016, South Korea has decided to join the fray for this high-budget project.
Image: sourced from Wikimedia
South Korea believe themselves to be more suitable than China in terms of cost and project planning, and they are willing to share their technology with Malaysia. All of the top construction companies of Korea have joined the consortium, including the best South Korean HSR train maker Hyundai Rotem Company, and the Korea Land & Housing Corp, Korea Railroad Corp and Korea Rail Network Authority (KRNA).
Image: Sourced from Kinibiz
As a country with experience in HSR projects, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Korea Rail Network Authority Kang Yeong Il is confident that they will manage to secure the project, and are not giving up their bid for the Malaysian HSR project.
South Korea is only fourth behind Japan, France and Germany in high-speed train technologies, and believe that the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore HSR project is very similar to the Korean HSR system. Their first bullet trains were rolled out in the year 2010.
The Malaysian HSR track will be approximately 330 kilometres long, and will begin in the Kuala Lumpur City and end in Jurong East in Singapore. It carries an estimated cost of RM70 billion. The project is expected to be completed in the year 2020.
Image: sourced from New Straits Times & Today Online
Diane Foo Eu Lynn, Senior Content Specialist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this or other stories email diane@propertyguru.com.my
