S’pore-KL rail link could feature Japan technology
PUTRAJAYA — The high-speed railway which will link Singapore and Kuala Lumpur could be built using technology from Japan, the country famous for the Shinkansen or bullet train.
Could we be seeing a station like this here by 2020? This image provided by the California High Speed Rail Authority shows an artist's rendering of a high-speed train station, as California mulls a high-speed rail network. Photo: AP
PUTRAJAYA — The high-speed railway which will link Singapore and Kuala Lumpur could be built using technology from Japan, the country famous for the Shinkansen or bullet train.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe yesterday offered Malaysia technology to build the railway during a visit to Kuala Lumpur.
“Malaysia and Japan agree to cooperate in high technology with Japan providing the technology in the construction of high-speed rail, water and waste treatment,” Mr Abe said at a press conference with his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak.
Singapore and Malaysia agreed on the construction of a high-speed rail linking the Republic and Kuala Lumpur — a line which will reduce commute between the two cities to only 90 minutes — during a retreat in February between Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Mr Najib.
Currently, it takes up to eight hours by train and about five hours by express bus to travel between the two cities. The 315km journey by road takes some four hours, while flights take 45 minutes, excluding airport check-in and transfers to the city which some say take hours.
Malaysia’s target completion date for the rail link is 2020.
The plan to build a high-speed rail link between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur was first floated in the late 1990s and saw a push in 2006 when Malaysian conglomerate YTL submitted an RM 8 billion (S$3.2 billion) proposal to the government.
In 2010, it was identified as a project under the Malaysian government’s Economic Transformation Programme, with proposed stops in Johor, Malacca and Negri Sembilan.
Mr Abe is on a tour to Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines to drum up infrastructure deals.
He arrives in Singapore today, his first official visit to the Republic as Prime Minister.
The 58-year-old will call on President Tony Tan and Prime Minister Lee at the Istana.
He will also meet Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth and Senior Minister of State (Communications and Information) Lawrence Wong.
In the afternoon, Mr Abe will deliver the 33rd Singapore Lecture — to be chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Tharman Shanmugaratnam — on Japan’s economic policies. AGENCIES
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