PUTRAJAYA, Dec 17 ― Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today said the government will review the construction of the KL-Singapore High Speed Rail project (HSR) following the revival of the Bandar Malaysia mega-development.

Dr Mahathir said the government will study the feasibility and cost of the project first before making any final decision.

"We will go ahead but we will need to find what is the suitable speed that we should have,” he said during a press conference at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre after witnessing the Bandar Malaysia signing ceremony.

"It is not necessary for it to be 400 kilometres an hour; if it's 400 kilometres an hour, it could even reach Alor Setar,’’ he said.

Dr Mahathir said the HSR project would likely be scaled down as the government intends to be prudent with its budget.

"We would like to spend less money. For me it can be scaled down or have the necessary adjustments in order to reduce the cost," he said.

Dr Mahathir’s positive confirmation on the HSR to Singapore, which was previously shelved due to its prohibitive RM110 billion cost, comes after the renewal of the Bandar Malaysia project today following the signing ceremony between Ministry of Finance-owned TRX City Sdn Bhd with lWH CREC Sdn Bhd, the consortium comprising Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Sdn Bhd (lWH) and China Railway Engineering Corporation (M) Sdn Bhd (CREC).

The 486-acre Bandar Malaysia comprises mixed development of commercial, residential and even cultural infrastructure.

Among major infrastructure to be included in Bandar Malaysia is an HSR station.