Bullet Train to KL

Nice little article from TODAYonline.com below about a proposed bullet train between Singapore and KL.

I wonder whether the liberalisation of air links between Singapore and Malaysia will hurt this project. The planes will probably start flying to KL by the end of this year while this bullet train will take a few years to materialise.

But I'm hoping the bullet train still comes through. I much prefer simple fares with no added taxes for security, airport handling and everything else they can come up with. And this will be more convenient than the planes because the passengers will get dropped much closer to the City Centre. KLIA rocks but it's still about an hour away from the action.

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The people behind the operating systems of the North-East and Circle MRT lines want to be the driving force behind the proposed bullet train rail linking Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

Mr Philippe Mellier, president of Alstom Transport, said yesterday his company was "very interested" in developing the bullet train, which would cut normal rail travel time from the current seven hours or so to just 90 minutes. He pointed to Alstom's experience in the Asia Pacific region — which includes building Korea's KTX high-speed train connecting Seoul and Pusan — as an advantage for the French company.

"We are by far the biggest manufacturer of high-speed trains in the world," Mr Mellier said.
"We know the region, we know the requirements and we have experience in exporting our technology far from home."

Alstom Transport occupies the No 2 market position in urban rail transport and has an annual turnover of €5.1 billion ($10.2 billion). A consortium led by Malaysian company YTL Corp is the only party that has presented a proposal for a bullet train service between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

Preliminary studies showed the US$2.3-billion ($3.5-billion) project is feasible but the Malaysian government has not made any decision. Last month, Singapore's Transport Minister Raymond Lim indicated he was open to the proposal if it benefits both countries.

Mr Mellier, who was here for a Metro workshop, said conditions are "ideal" for the construction of a high-speed rail system between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

Millions of people live in and could commute between the two cities, he said, envisioning a train that would travel at about 350kmh — giving air travel a run for its money.

Asked about Singapore's public transport, Mr Mellier suggested building a tram system around Orchard Road and the Central Business District. Though it would involve a bigger start-up investment, he said, a tram system could carry three times the capacity of buses while conserving a quarter of the energy.