Kuala Lumpur–Singapore high-speed rail


The Kuala Lumpur–Singapore high-speed rail is a postponed railway project to link Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Singapore via a high-speed rail line. It was announced by then Malaysian's Prime Minister, Najib Razak, in September 2010. Singapore's Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, officially agreed in February 2013 to go ahead and the HSR project is expected to be completed by 2026. However, after the defeat of Najib Razak in Malaysia's general elections in May 2018, his successor, Mahathir Mohamad initially announced that the project would be scrapped. However, during a visit to Japan on 12 June 2018, Mahathir said that the project was not scrapped but merely postponed due to high costs. On 5 September 2018, it was announced that the HSR operations will start in January 2031.
The HSR line is 350 km long, and is expected to reduce travel time between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore to 90 minutes. It will also stop at several Malaysian cities such as Malacca and Seremban as it travels along the west coast of West Malaysia. The line starts from Bandar Malaysia in Malaysia and ends at Jurong East in Singapore.

History

Background

A high-speed rail link between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore was proposed in the late 1990s but due to high costs, the proposal was shelved. In 2006, YTL Corporation, operator of the Express Rail Link in Kuala Lumpur, revived the proposal, with a projected speed of 250 km/h. This was expected to trim travel time between the two cities to 99 minutes, compared to 4–5 hours by road or 7 hours by conventional rail services, or 3 hours by air. In 2008, the Malaysian government halted the project citing high-costs of over RM8 billion.
The proposal was highlighted in 2010 as a high-impact project, out of the 131 entry-point projects, in the Malaysian government's Economic Transformation Programme Roadmap in a bid to increase economic activities concurrently with greater economic synergy between two important regional financial hubs. Studies into the feasibility and conceptual details of the proposal were carried out in December 2010 and January 2011.

Announcements and plans

The Prime Ministers of Malaysia and Singapore agreed to go ahead with the HSR project after a meeting on 19 February 2013. A committee was tasked with looking into 'the details and modalities' of the project. At the meeting, Singapore and Malaysia have announced that the high-speed rail proposal will be finalised by end of 2014 with a targeted completion date of 2020.
The proposal for Singapore's link was considered by the Land Transport Authority in Budget 2014. According to the Leaders' Retreat which was held on 7 April 2014, the possible locations for the high-speed rail terminus was narrowed down to Tuas West, Jurong East or the Downtown Core. On the 6th of February 2015, the Malaysia-Singapore Joint Ministerial Committee for Iskandar Malaysia released a press statement stating that Singapore had announced Jurong East as the final location for the high-speed rail terminus. However, the terminus would not be connected to the Jurong East MRT Station.
Various parties have taken an interest in the project, such as Japan and South Korea.Similarly, during a state visit by the Prime Minister of Singapore to France, Singapore's Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew told the press that French firms are keen to participate in the project. On 7 October 2015, the LTA and SPAD jointly announced the launch of a "market sensing exercise" on the Kuala Lumpur–Singapore high-speed rail project.
Singapore and Malaysia signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 19 July 2016 at a signing ceremony held at the then Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak's official residence in Putrajaya, witnessed by both Lee Hsien Loong and Najib Razak. It was signed by Singapore Transport Minister and Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure Khaw Boon Wan along with Malaysian Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Abdul Rahman Dahlan. There were also details including a 25-metre-high bridge link near the Malaysia–Singapore Second Link and three services to be operated by two operators. At the same meeting, the leaders agreed on technical details for the Johor Bahru–Singapore Rapid Transit System link, which will connect the Thomson-East Coast MRT Line to Johor Baru via another high bridge near the Johor–Singapore Causeway.

Developments

The government of Singapore has made the second large acquisition of land for the project by requiring Raffles Country Club to vacate its plot as the site offers the "most suitable location" to run the HSR tracks after the bridge crossing and to place the tunnel portal leading to the tunnels that would take the HSR to the Jurong East terminus. The site is expected to be vacated by 31 July 2018, to be used for HSR crossover tracks and a siding facility to temporarily house a train near the border for safety or operational reasons. The site is now occupied as Integrated Train Testing Centre. On 8 February 2017, LTA appointed engineering design firm AECOM Singapore to conduct an advanced engineering study for Singapore's stretch of the Singapore–Kuala Lumpur high-speed rail infrastructure.
On 16 February 2017, LTA and MyHSR awarded the HSR joint development partner contract to a consortium comprising WSP Engineering Malaysia, Mott MacDonald Malaysia and Ernst & Young Advisory Services. They will provide management support, technical advice on systems and operations, develop safety standards and help prepare tender documents for the joint project team of LTA and MyHSR. In the same month, it announced that the Singapore terminus would be designed by British architecture firm Farrells.
On 17 October 2017, the Prime Minister of Malaysia Najib Razak announced that the land acquisition process has begun in Malaysia for the project and also the station designs.
On 5 April 2018, MyHSR Corp announced the results of the selection process for the design and construction for the Malaysian portion of the project: A consortium of Malaysian Resources and Gamuda will build the northern part, and a consortium of Syarikat Pembenaan Yeoh Tiong Lay and TH Properties the southern part. The tender process for the Singapore tunnel sections was started in April 2018 with the start of construction expected in 2019.
The former Prime Minister and Opposition leader, Dr Mahathir Mohamad threatened to cancel or at least delay the project if he won the 14th Malaysian general election, which prompted the CEO of MyHSR Corp to urge all parties to refrain from politicizing the project. By late May of 2018, Mahathir confirmed that Malaysia will scrap the project, citing its high construction costs and downplaying its benefits. However, he appeared to backtrack on earlier statements during an official visit to Japan, commenting that the project was merely postponed until Malaysia was in better financial conditions, further reaffirming the peninsular's need for High-Speed Rail in the future. Among revisions being explored to reduce costs, was to align the route to the existing meter gauge Keretapi Tanah Melayu line to allow trains to run at 200 km/h with some upgrades in order to trim travel time to 2 hours and 10 minutes and lay a standard gauge track in parallel, with a fork running to Jurong East so that bilateral agreement is not violated.
On 5 September 2018, after meetings, Singapore and Malaysia have formally agreed to postpone the construction of the KL-Singapore High-Speed Rail until end-May 2020, with Malaysia having to pay Singapore S$15 million for costs incurred in suspending the project before the end of January 2019. In a joint statement, both nations also announced the HSR express service will be delayed until January 2031 instead of the original December 2026. A new agreement was signed by Malaysia's Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali and Singapore's Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan at the Prime Minister's Office in Putrajaya on Wednesday afternoon. Malaysia has since informed Singapore on 31 January 2019 that it has remitted S$15 million in abortive costs. In December 2019, the Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said that Malaysia would be ok with the high speed rail project, but with trains running at a reduced speed to help reduce costs.
In April 2020, UBS argued that the coronavirus could make people switch from air travel to high speed rail, thus solidifying the case for the HSR.
On 29 May 2020, it was announced that Singapore was considering a request by the Malaysian government to extend the suspension of the HSR project. On 31 May, Singapore Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan said that Singapore had agreed to the suspension until 31 December 2020.

Plan details

The line will be about 350 km and the travel time will be 90 minutes. The construction cost will be MYR 43 billion. The project will require the construction of a brand-new line with dedicated tracks, which will allow trains to travel at least 270 km/h. MYHSR Corp will co-ordinate the project for the essential construction within the Malaysia corridor, whereas LTA will be in charge for Singapore corridor.

Project timeline

This was the planned timeline. However, the project was postponed by the Malaysian Government, and now operations will begin in 2031.
MyHSR Corp stated that Kuala Lumpur-Singapore non-stop high-speed rail express service will run every 30 minutes from Bandar Malaysia, at the outskirts of downtown Kuala Lumpur, to Jurong East in Singapore. The non-stop express service will reach Singapore in 90 minutes and passengers boarding at Bandar Malaysia station will be able to clear Singapore Immigration before boarding.
The HSR will also offer a Malaysian domestic service that will see the train stop at all in-between intermediaries stop at seven stations in Malaysia. This service which also runs every half-hour, will take 120 minutes. Those taking the domestic service from stations such as Seremban or Ayer Keroh near Malacca City who want to enter Singapore will have to clear Singapore Immigration at Iskandar Puteri station and then use a shuttle train service from Iskandar Puteri, which will take another 15 minutes to Jurong East station, the HSR stop in Singapore.

Stations

Design

Malaysia's Land Public Transport Commission chairman, Syed Hamid Albar, announced the stops in Malaysia on 22 October 2014. On 5 May 2015, The Singapore government has chosen Jurong East to be the terminal for this line in Singapore. Jurong Country Club, completed the handover of the land parcel on November 2016.
In October 2017, the Prime Minister of Malaysia revealed the concept designs for all stations in Malaysia. According to him, the design of each station is conceptualised to reflect the nation's culture, heritage, and identity on each of the station's corridor while remaining modern and futuristic, and also to demonstrate the growth vision that the HSR would bring. HSR will also have three depots in Serdang, Muar and Pontian.
The concepts of the stations are: