Draft alignment for high speed rail project linking KL and Singapore to be finalised soon ahead of MoU

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia will finalise the draft alignment of the high speed rail (HSR) linking Kuala Lumpur and Singapore soon in time for the signing of memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Singapore in July.
MyHSR Corp chairman Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa (pix) said bilateral negotiations with Singapore is still ongoing and the government was hoping to finalise all the pertinent details within the next 12 weeks.
"At the moment, we are finalising the draft alignment. It is almost complete but we have to work together with Singapore," he said, after unveiling the MyHSR logo at Perdana Putra Complex yesterday (April 14) evening.
At the 12th Invest Malaysia event three days ago, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the MOU on the high speed rail project was expected to be signed between the two countries by the middle of the year.
When asked about the possibility to link HSR with Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) as part of its transit points, Ali Hamsa said: "We are open to options and we will announce everything in July."
It has been proposed that HSR coastal draft alignment include Seremban, Ayer Keroh, Muar, Batu Pahat and Iskandar Puteri as transit points.
MyHSR chief executive officer Mohd Nur Ismal Kamal said the Request for Information (RFI) exercise or market sensing which was conducted late last year recorded a total of 226 expressions of interest with 98 responses received.
"The RFI input that we gathered would be used during our negotiation with Singapore so that is the
basis of what we are deciding on, to be announced in July," he said.
"The important thing is the RFI will provide towards the commercial and technical aspects of HSR that form the basis of the selections (formal tender process) later," he added.
The RFI by MyHSR is an exercise to gauge market interest and gather industry opinion on the commercial and technical aspects of the rail project.
It also include proposed commercial models and procurement approach provided by multinational firms of diverse business background such as rolling stock provider, technical consultant, rail operators, civil and construction firms and others.
theSun understands that participants of the market sensing were from HSR global fraternity including from China, South Korea, Germany, North America, Singapore, Middle East and Asia Pacific
Currently, MyHSR is conducting Request for Proposal (RFP), which is opened for technical consultancy firms with HSR and rail experience in constructing projects more than 200km of track length to submit input until May 6.