RM40bil high-speed rail is uneconomic

comments     TigerTalk     Published     Updated

KINIBIZ The RM40 billion high-speed rail between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, if built according to the latest deeply flawed plans, will do little to ease travel and will be expensive to use. And rail services could remain unprofitable for years on end after operations because of low passenger numbers.

We don’t know yet what level of private sector participation in the project the government is aiming for, but the end result is likely to be a fully nationalised rail operator should operations by a private operator fail to turn a profit, requiring the government to step in.

Let’s start with the first problem: accessibility. The minority of Malaysians - minority because the train line will serve only the Federal Territory and three states - using the multi-billion ringgit railway years from now will find that they would be better off driving or taking express buses.

Why do I say this? The latest plans call for the construction of the high-speed tracks on reserve land along the North-South Expressway. Kuala Lumpur and Singapore can be connected more cheaply this way but intermediary stations would be located far from population centres.

What use is there to spend in excess of RM40 billion (conservative estimate) to build infrastructure connecting Kuala Lumpur to a foreign country but not properly link up Malacca, Muar, Batu Pahat and Johor Baru?

For the full story go to KiniBiz .

This article was written by Chan Quan Min .



Malaysiakini
news and views that matter


Sign In