KUALA LUMPUR – Former transport minister Anthony Loke has rubbished the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government’s proposal to set up a domestic high-speed rail (HSR) project, describing it as something that does not make sense and should be discontinued.
Questioning if the proposed domestic HSR covers the KL-Johor Baru route, Loke, who is also Seremban MP, said that the idea will be redundant given the ongoing RM10 billion double-tracking railway project between Gemas and Johor Baru that will be completed next year.
“When this track is completed, it means that the existing double-tracking route between Padang Besar in the north will connect directly to Johor Baru in the south, making the Electric Train Service (ETS) operated by KTMB (Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd) available to the public.
“Although the ETS is not as fast as HSR, in my opinion, it is sufficient for domestic services. The government only needs to allocate sufficient trains to increase the frequency of services,” he said in a statement today.
Loke suggested since the final decision to cancel the HSR between KL and Singapore has been made, the government’s focus should be on completing existing projects at an accelerated rate.
“This includes increasing KTMB’s capacity in cargo handling by train as well as other public transport projects such as Mass Rapid Transit 3 (MRT) in the Klang Valley, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in Johor Baru and so on.”
He also called on the PN government to be transparent on the compensation being paid to Singapore.
“During Pakatan Harapan’s era, all costs paid to Singapore following the project’s delay were declared to the public. The Perikatan Nasional administration should not hide those details.
“The government must be transparent on this matter and announce to the people the amount of compensation to be paid to Singapore and the total costs incurred by MyHSR Corp, which is borne by taxpayers since 2016.”
His criticism came after Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Economy) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed’s statement earlier today, suggesting a local high-speed rail line instead.
Mustapa said the government would undertake a detailed study on the viability of a domestic HSR project, among other possible options, after its agreement with Singapore was terminated, adding that the study would take into consideration the benefits for Malaysians.
If it materialises, this corroborates previous reports saying the country would continue the project without Singapore’s involvement, with the line to end in Johor Baru.
Malaysia, he said, had been exploring several alternatives to reduce the cost of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore HSR project since 2018, with the matter becoming more urgent with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, following a series of discussions, both countries were not able to come to an agreement before the original bilateral agreement lapsed yesterday.
Mustapa said by virtue of previously agreed terms, Malaysia would honour its obligations, with both countries to initiate the necessary negotiations to determine the amount of compensation to the island republic.
Earlier, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong in a joint statement, announced that the project has been officially called off after both governments failed to reach an agreement.
During the Pakatan Harapan administration, former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed in June 2018 announced that the project was suspended from September 2018 to May 2020 to salvage the country’s strained fiscal position failing which a compensation will be paid to the Singaporean government.
However, last May, the PN government extended the suspension period until yesterday, regarded as the “final extension” in another agreement reached with Singapore. – The Vibes, January 1, 2021
