MyHSR Corporation Sdn Bhd (‘MyHSR’) of Malaysia and Land Transport Authority (‘LTA’) of Singapore have announced that the Joint Development Partner (‘JDP’) contract for the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (‘HSR’) project has been awarded to the consortium comprising WSP Engineering Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Mott MacDonald Malaysia Sdn Bhd, and Ernst & Young Advisory Services Sdn Bhd.
The Authorities stated that the JDP will provide project management support and technical advice on HSR systems and operations. The JDP will also develop the technical and safety standards to be adopted for the project.
In addition, they said that the JDP will assist the Joint Project Team (‘JPT’) established between MyHSR and LTA with the preparation of documents for the forthcoming tenders relating to the joint aspects of the project, such as the appointment of the AssetsCo and OpCo International.
WSP Engineering partners Mott MacDonald, and Ernst & Young Advisory Services to form a consortium to take on the role of the Joint Development Partner for the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail project.
The Authorities noted that the consortium has made significant contributions from their involvement in many other major rail projects, including the California High Speed Rail in the United States of America, Taiwan High Speed Rail, HS2 in the United Kingdom, and the Crossrail in the United Kingdom.
Mohd Nur Ismal Mohamed Kamal, CEO of MyHSR said, “Following the commitment of the two Governments through the Bilateral Agreement signing, the JDP appointment marks the start of a challenging yet exciting journey to bring the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore HSR project to reality.”
“The consortium of WSP Engineering, Mott MacDonald and Ernst & Young Advisory Services will join the project teams of MyHSR and LTA in further developing the project. The teams will need to work closely to ensure that the project is delivered successfully. Further announcements will be made in due course, for other appointments of the project,” he said.
LTA Chief Executive, Mr Ngien Hoon Ping, “LTA is excited to have the consortium onboard as our JDP. With the collective expertise and extensive experience of the consortium in HSR projects internationally, MyHSR and LTA will be able to kick-start the preparation of upcoming joint tenders for this strategic project.”
“Together with the Advanced Engineering Study contract awarded earlier by LTA to carry out engineering studies for the Singapore stretch of the HSR, these two developments mark the next chapter in our journey to deliver the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore HSR project targeted by end-2026,” he added.
The 350 km-long HSR line will cut off the travel time from Malaysia to Singapore from 4 hours drive to just 90 minutes in a train travel. It will travel at a top speed of 300km/hour.
The terminus in Malaysia will be at Bandar Malaysia, while the one in Singapore will be at Jurong East. And Seremban, Ayer Keroh, Muar, Batu Pahat and Iskandar Puteri and Putrajaya were said to be the transit stops.
Besides the non-stop Singapore-KL express service and the domestic service within Malaysia, shuttle service between Singapore and Iskandar Puteri in Johor will be available.
The Governments of both countries signed a Bilateral Agreement on 13 December 2016 which captured the key points of agreement on the project, including the technical parameters, commercial model, customs, immigration and quarantine clearance, safety and security matters, regulatory framework and project management approach.
Construction is expected to start in 2018 and targeted to be up and running by around 2026.
