KL - Singapore High-Speed Rail Cancelled

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong once described the proposed KL-Singapore High-speed Rail project as a 'game changer' to the region. Sadly, the much hyped project is now cancelled following the joint-statement from both countries on the 1st of January 2021. What a terrible news to start the new year!

The stumbling block to seal the deal was mainly due to both sides were unable to reach a consensus on a number of issues. The project was initially estimated to cost about US$14.9 billion to $19.8 billion. Malaysian government seemingly wished to reduce the cost following the devastation to its economy in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The main drawcard of 350km long project is the substantial reduction in travel time to just 90 minutes compared to 4 hours by car. Official estimates show that the project could contribute about $5 billion dollars to the GDP of both Malaysia and Singapore and create more than 100,000 jobs by 2060.

The major disagreement is Malaysian government's proposed to appoint local contractors and consultants instead of having a jointly conducted open tenders process previously agreed. Singapore also cannot accept the Malaysian government's proposal to remove the third party asset company that would supply the train system and operate the railway network. As both countries have no previous experience of operating a high-speed rail network, Singapore cannot agree to the removal of the asset company.

Historically, rail projects have proved to be successful in spurring developments along the path of the networks. This project will not only benefit Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, but will serve as a powerful locomotive to bring up and stimulate developments around the various Malaysian towns along the way.

Some analysts believed that the project's termination will further erode investors' confidence towards the Malaysian government. Malaysian politics has been in an unstable situation since the Sheraton Movement Coup in February 2020.

新加坡总理李显龙曾经预测吉隆坡-新加坡高铁项目将为东南亚带来巨大好处。令人遗憾的是，在2021年1月1日两国最终宣布这个项目已被取消。新的一年却由一个坏消息开始！

双方政府无法在一些问题上达成共识。该项目最初估计耗资约149亿美元至198亿美元。由于新冠肺炎大流行，马来西亚政府似乎希望在2020年经济遭受重创后降低建筑成本。长达350公里的高铁主要吸引力在于，它将行程大幅减少至90分钟，而目前驾车则需要4小时多。官方估计显示，到2060年，该项目可为马来西亚和新加坡的GDP贡献约50亿美元，并创造10万多个就业机会。

历史告诉我们，铁路项目已成功地促进了沿网络道路的发展。该项目不仅会使吉隆坡和新加坡受益，还将会带动并刺激沿途的所有在马来西亚的各个城镇的发展。

一些分析人士就因这次事件认为，该项目的终止将进一步削弱投资者对马来西亚政府的信心。自2020年2月喜来登政变以来，马来西亚政治一直处于不稳定局面。