Malaysian bullet train going to Singapore?

Malaysian tycoon Francis Yeoh has made it clear again that he plans to build a bullet train service all the way to Singapore from Kuala Lumpur, according to a report today.

Will he and his YTL Corporation succeed in linking the capitals of Malaysia and Singapore via a fast train that could cut down travel time to less than two hours for many long-suffering travelers between the two countries?

“I am confident (to secure the project) because everybody wants it. The Malaysian government is pragmatic and at the end of the day if the public wants it, why not?,” he reportedly said.

Sure, everybody wants it. But can the two governments agree to such a plan that will greatly benefit the people of the two countries? Can the two governments really cooperate for the benefit of the population of the two countries or will they be driven by their narrow self-interest?

Sophie's World is not sanguine. Apart from problems arising from Malaysia's haphazard railway blueprint, the two governments can't even agree on very basic and long outstanding matters such as the:

1. Renewal of the water agreements between Malaysia and Singapore;
2. Redevelopment of the Malaysian railway land in Singapore;
3. Exchange of land in Singapore for the joint redevelopment of the Malaysian railway land
4. Use of Malaysian airspace by Singapore;
5. Sale of Malaysian sand to Singapore for reclamation;
6. Release of CPF funds of West Malaysians who no longer work in Singapore;
7. Dispute over Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Putih;
8. Diversion of heavy traffic to the Second Link from the causeway;
9. Plan to build an overhead bridge to replace the old causeway; and
10. Cleaning up the filthy Straits of Johor, which separates the two countries.

Like the current talk (just talk) to build a monorail link between the southern Malaysian city of Johor Baru and Singapore, it will be more ideal to build a new bridge to replace the causeway to facilitate the bullet train project. Please read earlier posting.

Now, where is the new Asean Charter?

Haphazard Malaysian railway blueprint

Malaysia's railway blueprint is as haphazard as the country's current political climate.

The Straits Times today reported that the government is set to revive part of Malaysia's massive railway project with the award of a RM12.5 billion contract to a joint venture led by businessman Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bhukary.

The report said MMC Corporation, the corporate flagship of Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar's vast business empire, will team up with Lin Yun Ling's construction house Gamuda to build an electrified, double-track rail system stretching from the central city of Ipoh in Perak to Padang Besar on the Malaysia-Thai border.

The news is not unexpected although the project to build the entire track was shelved by the current administration following the retirement of former PM Mahathir Mohamad in 2003. The lobbying to revive the project has been intense.

The cost also appears to have ballooned. The plan to build the entire track along the peninsular was estimated to be RM14.5 billion back in 2003. But the price tag is now reported to be RM12.5 billion for a segment of the Malaysian peninsular.

Another point that's not been made clear by the government is the other major leg of the Malaysian railway blueprint -- between the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur and Johor Baru and/or Singapore.

A report this week by Singapore's The Business Times cited JP Morgan as saying that Francis Yeoh's YTL bullet train project between KL and JB is set to take off. The price tag also appears to have gone up -- RM11 billion from the reported figure of RM8 billion earlier.

Will the two railway projects be able to coordinate their operations and make fast train service seamless from southern Malaysia to the tip of the Thai border? Will travelers be able to hop on the train one day in Singapore and travel all the way via Malaysia and Thailand to reach Kunming in China as part of the Asean dream?

Sophie's World doesn't have high hopes, after so many false starts amidst all the problems within Asean.

Maybe, Malaysia must continue to rely on the good old, snail-pace Keretapi Tanah Melayu.

Bullet Train, Part 2

Malaysia says it will soon talk to Singapore on a private sector plan to build a bullet train between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore on Wednesday, commissioning a study of the proposal, state news agency Bernama said on Wednesday.

According to reports, Malaysian property and utility firm YTL Corp Bhd has proposed to build and run an 8-billion-ringgit (US$2.2 billion) bullet train between KL and Singapore. No other details are available.

The YTL plan, which first surfaced last year, has generated the usual debate about the need for such a service, as evidenced by the responses to a news article posted on Malaysia Today.

There is definitely a need for a fast train service between the two capitals. Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM service as seen in this pix) can take more than eight hours to connect KL and Singapore. Driving takes half the time. Perhaps, the old KTM train service should be dedicated to ferrying non-perishable goods like fertiliser.

The two countries must see a faster train service -- that can cut travel time to between 90 minutes and 2 hours between the two capitals -- as beneficial to the PEOPLE of the two countries and not be sidetracked by smaller and technical issues or "balance of benefits".

Although a faster train project is necessary, there will be many complications as mentioned in an earlier posting.

Updated: Malay Land Railway

The massive rains have caused havoc to southern and eastern Malaysia. The country is still cleaning up the mess.

As widely reported, the rail service from Singapore to certain parts of Malaysia has been disrupted due to the floods. The service disruption is aptly captured in this rather interesting picture in New Straits Times. Several observations can be made about the disruption of the train service in Malaysia:

1. First, the current single track system operated by the anachronistically named Keretapi Tanah Melayu (Malay Land Railway or Malayan Railway instead of Malaysian Railway) is obviously inadequate. Malaysia needs a double-tracking system to allow two-way traffic. The second line can still be used in the event of disruption to the first line. How can Malaysia move goods and people fast using a rail network that was built by the British in the late 19th century?

2. It's perhaps better to embark on a fast train service project in Malaysia that will require a stronger foundation for the tracks. Such tracks won't be as easily dislodged as the old gravel system to support the single track.

MMC and Gamuda had proposed a double-tracking railway system for a fast train service but the RM14.5-billion project was shelved by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi three years ago. Malaysian tycoon Francis Yeoh of YTL is now proposing a bullet train service between KL and Singapore but it's not known if the train service will materialise as well.

3. The disruption of the rail service has raised an interesting academic conundrum for bilateral ties between Malaysia and Singapore.

It is well known that Malaysia has legal title to the railway land in Singapore to operate a railway service through KTM. However, under the terms of the lease, should Malaysia stop operating its railway service to Singapore, the Malaysian railway land in Singapore reverts to Singapore (That is why KTM had been runing the shabby train service to Singapore although it was probably losing money from carrying so few passengers on each trip!)

The point is probably moot because Malaysia and Singapore had signed the so-called Points of Agreement to jointly re-develop the Malaysian railway land in Singapore in 1990. However, the two governments have not been able to come to terms on basic points in the POA in the past 16 years.

In fact, Malaysia's former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad didn't quite recognise the POA, saying it was not ratified by the Malaysian Parliament -- eight years after it was signed by former Singapore PM Lee Kuan Yew and ex-Malaysian Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin.

So what will happen to the Malaysian railway land in Singapore if Malaysia uses the damage caused by the flood as an excuse to stop its unpopular* train service to Singapore indefinitely?

*The train service is not the most popular mode of transport between Singapore and KL as it takes more than seven hours on the current single track. Furthermore, it's faster to travel by highway (4 hours) and planes (45 minutes). The KTM service will become even more anachronistic once the Asean open-skies pact takes effect in 2008, a move that will allow budget airlines to fly more freely between KL and Singapore and other Asean cities.

Latest: KTM has resumed train service since Christmas Eve, according to Singapore TV channel Channel NewsAsia. But KTM is still a shabby service!