Penang not yet part of high-speed rail project

The high-speed rail project under the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) will only connect Kuala Lumpur to Singapore initially - and not Penang as has been reported in the media.

Deputy lead er of the Greater KL lab Ahmad Suhaili Idrus confirmed this, explaining that the confusion could have been due to a chart displayed at a booth during the ETP launch yesterday.

“In the lab we saw the potential of building this all the way to Penang and even Thailand, but for the purpose of this entry point project we are only looking at KL and Singapore,” he said when contacted today.

While the chart shows a connection to Penang and Thailand, the plan only details the link between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore which would cut train journey to about two hours.

The connection between Kuala Lumpur and Penang was labelled as the ‘second phase’.

The high-speed train, expected to travel at 280km per hour, will stop in Seremban, Ipoh, Ayer Keroh, Muar and Batu Pahat.

Project 'revived'

Greater KL, one of the 12 national key economic areas identified under the ETP, mooted the project which was once proposed by a private company but has been rejected twice.

 

Speaking at a breakout session yesterday, Ahmad Suhaili said the initial project was turned down about five years ago and again three years ago, because the “timing was not right”.

Ahmad Suhaili - also the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) national key results area director - credited lab members who revived the project and “worked hard to convince stakeholders” of its viability.

He, however, admitted that not much yet can be said about the project as it is still in the conceptual stage. A feasibility study is due in January next year.  

 

It is understood that the project is estimated to cost between RM12 billion and RM15 billion and that two private companies have been engaged by the lab, one of which has joint-venture dealings in Singapore. No Singapore company has been contacted.

Contacted today, Bukit Bendera parliamentarian Liew Chin Tong who had attended the launch, said that building a separate rail system to that run by Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd would only serve to "canibalise" the national railway company which already runs an express service on the route.

In fact, he said, KTM is already improving its efficiency through the Ipoh-KL electric train service (ETS) and double-track rail from Penang to Johor.

"Why can't you just improve the current (system)? You can reform (rail service) through KTM, but instead, you build a parallel line and kill them," he added.

The ETS service, which links Ipoh to Seremban, began in August. KTM has outsourced the operations to a private company.