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Malaysia’s Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) and Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) have signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) PPP project.

Both Governments agreed that each will take responsibility for developing, constructing and maintaining the civil infrastructure and stations within their own countries. These works will be undertaken by MyHSR Corporation and LTA (as InfraCos) in Malaysia and Singapore respectively. 

Through international tenders, an assets company (AssetsCo) will be appointed to provide and maintain the HSR trains and its associated systems (e.g. track, power, signaling and telecommunications), while two train operating companies (OpCos) will be appointed to operate the HSR services. An OpCo International will operate the cross-border services (i.e. the Express Service and the Shuttle Service), while an OpCo Domestic will operate the Domestic Service within Malaysia.

Both Governments agreed that the HSR will have eight stations – the termini in Bandar Malaysia and Singapore, and six intermediate stations in Putrajaya, Seremban, Ayer Keroh, Muar, Batu Pahat and Iskandar Puteri.

The railway will be about 375 km with all the stations designed to integrate with the local public transport systems to ensure seamless connectivity. The trains will run at a top speed of more than 300km/h. The total project investment is estimated at MYR43 billion (US$10.6 billion).

Both Governments also agreed to form a Bilateral Committee comprising representatives from both Governments to manage and regulate aspects of the project which might impact the cross-border services.

In addition, a Joint Project Team comprising representatives from MyHSR Corporation and LTA will be formed to coordinate joint aspects of planning and development works prior to the commencement of operations. As a next step, the Joint Project Team will call for an international tender next month to appoint a Joint Development Partner to provide technical support to both countries on the project.

Both Governments agreed to work towards commencing HSR operations by around 2026.