Melissa Goh Channel NewsAsia 10 Sep 13;
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will begin the tender process for the proposed high-speed rail link between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore in the second half of 2014. That is according to the CEO of Malaysia's Land Public Transport Commission, Mohd Nur Ismail.
He added that negotiations to finalise plans with Singapore were currently on-going.
The proposed high speed rail will span 330 kilometres and shorten travel time between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore to 90 minutes.
Mr Nur Ismail was speaking on the sidelines of a regional rail conference in Kuala Lumpur.
He also said the project was not affected by government measures to consolidate its fiscal position.
"As of the current information, we don't expect it to be impacted by that. We are still looking at 2020 as the completion date," said Mr Nur Ismail.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak recently announced that the government will scale back or put on hold projects with high import content, given a weaker ringgit and a yawning fiscal deficit.
- CNA/ac
