Johor expresses readiness to collaborate on possible KL-Singapore HSR project revival, says state exco

JOHOR BARU, Dec 13 — The Johor state government has expressed its readiness to collaborate and cooperate with the federal government on the possible revival of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail (HSR) project.

Johor State Investment, Trade and Consumer Affairs Committee chairman Lee Ting Han said the state government would decide on the kind of collaboration after the Transport Ministry (MoT) starts to work on the feasibility of the project.

“We need to see the MOT proposal first and then the state government will comment on how we can work together especially involving land issues, planning permission and so on.

“We hope the federal government under the new unity government will be able to reconsider the feasibility of the project so that it can create economic spillover in Johor in particular,” he told reporters after the closing ceremony of the Belt and Road Initiative Symposium at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, here, today.

Asked whether the revival of the HSR project would address the glut of unsold luxury properties in Johor, Lee said the HSR may help partially because the HSR project is expected to create economic spillover and attract more talent.

“For example, multinational companies based in Singapore may move some operations to Johor because of a reduction in travelling time.

“The HSR will create a seamless economic bubble between Malaysia and Singapore,” he said.

Earlier, in his speech, Lee said he is in consensus with the general view that it is the right time to revisit and revive the HSR project under the new administration.

“There is no time to lose. With the pandemic derailing our economic growth trajectory, the HSR may help to not just get us back on track but speed up our journey towards embracing the vibrant global economy,” he said.

On August 22, 2022, former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob expressed his interest to expedite the revival of the HSR with Singapore as soon as possible.

This was following a statement by his counterpart, Lee Hsien Loong, on November 29, 2021, who was open to the idea of a new HSR proposal.

Both countries first inked a bilateral agreement on the project on December 13, 2016, but terminated the project on Jan 1 last year after several delays.

The RM110 billion project, which involves 350 kilometres of development, would shorten the travelling time from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore to a mere 90 minutes. — Bernama