Bullet train project may zoom into master plan

By Sharen Kaur
Published in NST on December 14, 2010

THE proposed Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed train project, costing between RM10 billion and RM12billion, may be included in the national public transport master plan, said the chief of The Land PublicTransport Commission (Spad).

Spad chief executive officer Mohd Nur Ismal Kamal said a feasibility study is being undertaken to examineviability of the project.

"The project may be considered in the master plan but we are not sure yet. The study will show how thehigh-speed train can be integrated with other public land transport," he said on the sidelines of the NationalSummit on Urban Public Transport 2010 in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Malaysia is mulling over a high-speed rail linking Kuala Lumpur and Singapore that will cut travel timebetween the two cities to 45 minutes.

A few companies, including YTL Corp Bhd and Hartasuma Sdn Bhd have made presentations to the NationalKey Economic Area (NKEA) lab on the project, involving a distance of about 300km.

Spad chairman Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar said the configuration of the high-speed rail would need to belooked into in detail before the project can be considered.

Spad, set up in June this year to regulate the land public transport sector, is drawing up a 20-year master planto ensure the holistic development of public transport in the country.

The master plan will look into all aspects of public transport, including connectivity and accessibility,ensuring the development of a more integrated public transport system.

It will start with the Greater Klang Valley providing connectivity between buses, taxis, the light rail transit(LRT) system, the express rail link (ERL), monorail and the mass rapid transit (MRT) system.

Syed Hamidtold reporters that the backbone of public transport will be urban rail, led by the RM40 billion MRT system.

"The MRT is going to be important. Most important is the route alignment to integrate public transport.Mobility and commercial areas need to be looked at for the routing," he said.

Syed Hamid said Spad is already engaging with the public, non-government organisations and publictransport operators on feedback to draw up the master plan and submit to the government by September nextyear.

The government is targeting 25 per cent of the population in Greater Klang Valley to use public transport by2012, and 30 per cent by 2015, from 12 per cent now.1/2


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