The governments of Malaysia and Singapore confirmed that the two countries have recently planned to resume consultations on the high-speed rail project connecting Malaysia ’s capital Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, extending the deadline for restarting this project to December 31.


Both parties agreed to postpone

Malaysia ’s Senior Minister of International Trade and Industry Mohamed Azmin Ali said on May 31 They agreed to resume consultations on the Malaysia-Singapore high-speed rail project in the near future and agreed to extend the deadline for restarting the project to December 31 this year.

Azmin said that he was appointed by the Malaysian government to discuss the Malaysia-Singapore high-speed rail project with Singapore. The discussion will include some changes at the commercial and technical level of the project.

Malaysia and Singapore announced the Malaysia-Singapore high-speed rail construction plan in February 2013, and signed an agreement in December 2016 to set a timetable for opening the bus before the end of 2026. However, because the two sides have different demands for railway construction, the two countries have many differences on line design and station selection, and the tender date has been delayed.

The opposition party “Hope Coalition” led by former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad won the election of the lower house of parliament and formed the government in May 2018. After Mahathir took office, he announced the cancellation of the Malaysia-Singapore high-speed rail project, and then changed his position and sought to postpone the project.

The governments of Malaysia and Singapore decided to put aside high-speed rail projects for two years in 2018. According to the agreement at the time, if it cannot be restarted before May 31 of this year, the high-speed rail construction plan will be considered terminated.


Xinfang happy to see again

Singapore ’s Ministry of Transport responded to media questions on May 31, confirming that the Malaysian government has informed the Singaporean side that it hopes to put the high-speed rail project on The restart period is extended by 7 months, and New Zealand looks forward to receiving formal proposals from Malaysia on project changes as soon as possible, so that the two sides can restart consultations.

The Ministry of Transport of Singapore reiterates that the Singapore-Malaysia high-speed rail project is a mutually beneficial and win-win project for the two countries, and will strengthen ties between the two countries and strengthen personnel exchanges.

Xu Wenyuan, Minister of Infrastructure Coordination and Minister of Transportation of Singapore, on the same dayPosting on social media “Facebook” confirmed that he received a letter from Azmin saying that the new party has been “enthusiastic and positive” about the high-speed rail project and strictly implements the relevant agreements.

Xu Wenyuan said that the Singapore-Malaysia high-speed rail project will benefit the people of both countries. The key to promoting this project is to maintain mutual trust between the two parties and work together to achieve the project ’s vision.

According to the design, the Malaysia-Singapore high-speed railway runs on a dual track, with a maximum speed of 350 kilometers per hour. After completion, it takes only 90 minutes from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore. One-way driving in the two places currently takes more than 4 hours.

(Original title [Special feature] Postponement of Malaysia-Singapore High Speed ​​Rail Intentional re-talk between the two countries)