While those of you who might think that the MRT in project in Malaysia is something huge which is going to change the way people travel have only heard half the news of what is yet to come. Many might not know this but back in 2010, the Malaysian government launched the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) which had one main goal and that is to transform Malaysia into a high income nation by the year 2020. That was when the High Speed Rail was discussed and about and it is said that this will be aimed to not only link global cities together but also to improve the economy system in Malaysia.
The good news is that Singapore actually agreed with Malaysia on this new project to go ahead and build a High Speed Rail that would not only link the city state of Singapore to Kuala Lumpur but even crazier than that, it would only take you 90 minutes to reach your destination. For those of you who travel frequently to Singapore spending hours on the road, you can be rest assured that once this project is complete, your journey will be nothing but a breeze. You can soon save up precious hours on the road and Singapore and Malaysia have also agreed that Singapore’s Mass Rapid Transit system will soon be linked to Johor. Prime Ministers of both countries, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Lee Hsien Loong have actually called this amazing project a ‘game-changer’.
As our Prime Minister has already mentioned before, this project is going to change the way how people in Malaysia and Singapore currently do business. This is going to change how all of us would interact and even trade in our country. To all those working in Singapore, they will also be more than happy to only have to spend about 90 minutes to get to their destination. Our Prime Minister also did mention that he hopes to meet the deadline for the project that should be completed and operational by the year 2020.
Although the High Speed Rail is going to be based on a public-private relationship, Datuk Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has assured that there will be strong presence of government participation. This will be a two part project whereby the funding will be from the private sector and the structural support and participation will be from the government. Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also said that this project will make it faster for people to travel by rail than by air, as you will have waiting time if you were to take a flight. He also feels that this is a very good idea.
Just How Do We Benefit?
Now that we know a little bit about this High Speed Rail project that will be completed by 2020, just how do we really benefit from this? For all of you who actually do travel frequently to Singapore, you would know that the traffic is probably the only thing you will not enjoy on your journey there. There is in fact a need for such a project between the two countries to improve the connectivity that will overcome the current traffic congestion because of the capacity that the Causeway is not able to handle. That is not all if you were to think about the future. In time to come, the number of people travelling to Singapore will increase and if nothing is done now, we will all soon dread traveling down south in the near future. At this very moment, the Causeway’s capacity has already exceeded by 33%. As for Malaysia, some of the other states would also get to benefits from this as the smaller cities will have that opportunity to open up and connect themselves better to the other cities in Peninsular Malaysia. In short, the High Speed Rail in more than efficient and a safe mode of transport that will help safe important time.
About The Project
This High Speed Rail which is said to start operating by the year 2020 will serve as a mode of public transport for those who normally travel during between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. The High Speed Rail is also favoured by all it will play a big part as far as transformation is concerned because it will be linking together 2 global countries which will result in economic growth and actually improving the standards and quality of the life of the people around. Five other major cities in Malaysia will be linked to Singapore through this High Speed Rail which are Seremban, Melaka, Muar, Batu Pahat, Nusajaya. Their final stop will be in Singapore.
When we look at this from a different perspective, we also see that we won’t have to worry much anymore about struggling to get new business and employees from Singapore to work in Malaysia and also vice versa. We would have the benefit of gaining a larger number of special skilled workers, labour and also talent.
High Speed Rail Safety
To those who are reading this and concerned about the safety, you need not worry as this High Speed Rail will be incorporating Japan’s Shinkansen technology. With this technology, people won’t have to fear of how it is going to be as Japan has proven it to be very safe and reliable at the same time. At this very moment, both countries, Malaysia and Singapore are talking about how they will be implementing certain aspects of this project such as the design, operations, financing and also legal arrangements. With all that has been said, it is now only a matter of years before citizens of Malaysia and Singapore will get to enjoy this state of the art High Speed Rail.
