Okay, it will be 2026 before the high speed rail (HSR) Kuala Lumpur – Singapore (KL-SG HSR) is completed. This is assuming everything goes as per plan. Yes, there were some comments from the Chinese companies that if they are the ones building it, then the time needed can be shortened. That’s later perhaps since we do not know yet know who would win or who is bidding. Interested parties however was in full force during the industry briefing for the KL-SG HSR project conducted today. Full article in TheStar here. A total of 165 international and local companies came for the briefing by Malaysia’s MyHSR Corporation Sdn Bhd (MyHSR) and the Land Transport Authority of Singapore (LTA). These participants include suppliers and integrators of rolling stock and systems, network operators, engineering and legal consultants, financiers and investors, operators as well as construction companies.
LTA Chief Executive, Ngien Hoon Ping said, “We are pleased with the strong interest from companies all over the world for the Industry Briefing and to take the opportunity to reaffirm both the governments’ strong commitment to make this project a success.” MyHSR chief executive officer Mohd Nur Ismal Mohamed Kamal said “The project will be implemented in phases.This current phase focuses on the AssetsCo tender. Other tenders such as the Civil and Operating Company (OpCo) will be developed according to the project timeline and an announcements will be made in due course.” In brief, The KL-SG HSR will open with eight stations, namely Bandar Malaysia, Putrajaya, Seremban, Melaka, Muar, Batu Pahat and Iskandar Puteri stations in Malaysia and the Jurong East station in Singapore. An earlier article about those stations here: Benefits to cities along the line Total length of the HSR is 350-kilometre and it will link KL – SG within 90 minutes. The commencement date is Dec 31, 2026. (It should be earlier, my personal belief, unless both countries have some political issues)
I just had a delicious dinner with a Hong Konger guest here in KL. He said he heard from many friends that Iskandar would have a huge oversupply. He also asked about the ‘bullet train.’ I told him that based on the current situation, it does seem like there’s an oversupply. Is Iskandar getting better? Or worse? Media report There’s a huge supply of newly completed units coming too. Earlier article quoting CBRE-WTW here. I told him that should the connectivity between Iskandar and Singapore becomes better, say a Rail Transit System is built somehow, then we can see the real potential of Iskandar as a place to stay and Singapore as a place of work. I am not talking about Malaysians. We are looking at some Singaporean families who may prefer condos with facilities instead of flats. As of now, there’s no way for this to happen because travelling during peak hours would be 2 hours. Nothing changes as at now but KL-SG HSR is a piece of good news. I have no property in Iskandar yet. Hopefully, I can save enough and the market can wait for me for a while. 🙂 Happy following.
written on 4 July 2017
Next suggested article: That ‘scary’ article about the US$100 billion Chinese investment in Iskandar
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