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Earth Knowledge Bureau - Malacca high-speed rail, yellow!
NO.1802 - Malacca High Speed Rail
Author: Luzon Liu Big Head
Draft: Sun Lu / Proofreader: Cat Stu / Editor: Yakult
Along the Malay Peninsula, which controls the Strait of Malacca, the international golden waterway, there are two very important countries that claim to be the southernmost point of the Asian continent, namely Malaysia and Singapore.
Malaysia and Singapore▼
On January 1 this year, a major event took place on the Malay Peninsula, when the leaders of both sides announced plans to connect the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur and the city-state of Singapore, and the Singapore-Malaysia high-speed rail project via Malacca State was officially cancelled.
The high-speed rail actually had a strong presence in The country, and it is one of the gimmicks that many property developers and commercials use to market properties in The surrounding areas of Singapore. Unfortunately, now the bubble has burst.
Even thinking that I can take the high-speed train straight to Singapore, it will be no longer a play in the short term
(Photo: Lena Serditova/shutterstock)▼
Behind the failed cooperation is a political and economic game for many years.
Proposal by Malaysia
Malaysia and Singapore, as two countries with a high proportion of Chinese, can basically see the Chinese figure in all aspects of society, and the high-speed rail is no exception.
One of the key figures is Yang Zhongli, whose ancestral home is Kinmen, Fujian. In addition to being a senior Malaysian title, Bedan Sri Datuk Seri, he is also the founder of Malaysia's largest conglomerate, The Yang Chung Lai Group, and a Chinese tycoon in Malaysia.
A representative figure of the Nanyang Tycoon model
(Photo: wikipedia-Csshchoo)▼
In 1998, after the kuala Lumpur Express was opened, Yang Zhongli Group, which owned half of the airport express rail company, found that the operation of the fast rail was very profitable and proposed to the then Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to build a high-speed railway linking Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.
This is similar to Beijing's Capital Airport Line, a high-end line
(Kuala Lumpur Airport Express, photo: faak/shutterstock)▼
However, the government did not adopt the opinion of the Young Group for the simple reason that the construction and operation costs of high-speed rail were high, and Malaysia was also affected by the Asian financial turmoil and the economic downturn. In terms of international relations, relations between Singapore and Malaysia were not good, plus the protection of the local automobile industry, and the prime minister rejected the proposal.
1998 was indeed a trough for the Malaysian economy
At this time, engaging in high-speed rail seems a bit luxurious
(Photo: google.com)▼
In 2006, the Young Group re-proposed the above plan. At that time, the plan was that if the Malaysian government approved the construction of the Yang Group high-speed railway, they would go to Japan, Germany and France, which have high-speed rail technology, to raise construction funds for the construction of the quasi-rail high-speed railway between Singapore and Malaysia, with an estimated construction cost of 8 billion ringgit, and after the completion of the high-speed rail, the train speed can reach 250km/h, and it takes only one and a half hours to travel from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore, which is faster than driving (4~5h), buses, aviation (including the necessary processes such as going to and from the airport), and Pudong Railway (7h). The fare is also cheaper than the plane.
Friends are ready to plan ABCD
(Bombardier of Canada, Kawasaki Heavy Industries of Japan, Siemens of Germany, Alstom of France)▼
After the rumors of the construction of high-speed rail between Singapore and Malaysia spread, it immediately attracted the attention of some companies. For example, in order to swallow this single fat, Siemens of Germany expressed its intention to sell the Siemens Velaro electric multiple unit to Malaysia as an operating vehicle for the Singapore-Malaysia high-speed railway.
Siemens can adapt to the needs of different railway operators
Customize different electric multiple units
(Velaro in Frankfurt, photo: /shutterstock)▼
Plans to build a high-speed rail dragged on for another two years, and in 2008 the Malaysian transport minister said the government had not yet made a final decision on the construction of the high-speed rail. In addition, he also said that even if the high-speed rail really lands, it will only be a broad-gauge railway with a operating speed of 250km/h, which cannot be connected with the airport express railway (quasi-rail). But judging by other sources from senior government officials, Malaysia is interested in advancing the plan.
After all, there are many people who go to Singapore to work
It is not that there is no high-speed rail, so this work does not have to be fought
Since you must work part-time, it is still a very realistic demand to improve the efficiency of the passage
(Singapore migrant work site, photo: shutterstock)▼
Unfortunately, this year's subprime mortgage crisis broke out, and the high-speed rail plan could only be shelved.
This is the superficial factor, but there may be another reason in the depths: the Malaysian election is approaching, the political situation is unstable, the state railway company Malaya Railway is also opposed to the construction of high-speed rail, and the high-speed rail will also have a huge impact on the status of Kuala Lumpur International Airport transportation hub, which can be described as a joint stranglehold by many parties.
Although Kuala Lumpur International Airport has a distance advantage
But Singapore's appeal is enormous
If you get from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore it only takes an hour and a half
The domestic status of Kuala Lumpur International Airport will undoubtedly be affected▼
The following year, the Young Group considered restarting the high-speed rail program, this time changing the direction of the route and preparing to build along the coastline of Peninsular Malaysia. During this period, the Malaysian general election also officially ended, a new team came to power, and the political situation was stable. The new government launched the Economic Transition Implementation Programme (ETP) in 2010 with the goal of enabling Malaysia to become a high-income country by 2020.
The per capita GDP of the Malays, which is more than 10,000 knives, is still good
But singapore next door is actually as high as more than 60,000 knives
Mixing into high income is really a roadblock and a twist
The Greater Kuala Lumpur/Klang Valley is one of the "national key economic" sectors designated by the scheme, where the "Start-up Plan 3" link clearly states that the singapore-Malaysia high-speed rail will be built. If successful, it is expected to increase Malaysia's gross national income by RM6.2 billion while creating 28,700 jobs. Since then, the Malaysian government has gradually studied the advantages and disadvantages of building high-speed rail, and later also studied the conceptual details related to high-speed rail.
Malaysia wants to transform Greater Kuala Lumpur/Klang Valley into an urban agglomeration
In addition to the urbanization and transportation construction of the region
It also needs to be connected to key Singapore cities
(Grand Kuala Lumpur/Klang Valley in a broad sense, image: wikipedia)▼
Singapore debuts
However, in 2012, the Deputy Minister of the Prime Minister's Office of Malaysia said that the authorities had no intention of building a high-speed rail. But the following year, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong held talks at the Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore, and agreed to complete the Singapore-Malaysia high-speed rail by 2020.
Najib and Lee Hsien Loong
（图片：wikipedia-Official Youtube Channel of Najib Razak）▼
As a result, the construction process of the Singapore-Malaysia high-speed rail has officially shifted from unilateral promotion to joint promotion between the two countries, and the leaders of the two countries have agreed to put the Iskandar District Ministerial Joint Committee of Malaysia responsible for discussing the details of the high-speed rail plan (e.g. the direction of the high-speed rail line).
Iskandar is across the Straits of Johor and across from Singapore
This economic positioning is very similar to China's Shenzhen▼
The rumors of another high-speed rail between Singapore and Malaysia reached Japan this time, and then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Malaysia in July of that year. After the meeting with the Malaysian prime minister, he said that Japan and Malaysia would cooperate in the development of high-tech, and high-speed rail was one of the scope of cooperation, and Japan would provide high-speed rail technology for it.
Since then, the high-speed rail project has progressed rapidly, and Malaysia completed the engineering and technical study and feasibility study report of the Singapore-Malaysia high-speed rail around September of that year, and discussed the land acquisition of the high-speed rail construction project with Singapore, and the two countries jointly announced that the details of the high-speed rail plan will be determined by the end of 2014.
Compared to Singapore it needs Malaysia
In fact, Malaysia needs Singapore even more
(Photo: google map)▼
Singapore's Land Transport Authority also tendered for a feasibility study for the Singapore section of the Singapore high-speed rail in 2014, followed by Malaysia's establishment in 2015 of a company under the Ministry of Finance, the Malaysian High Speed Rail Corporation, to be responsible for the construction of high-speed rail in Malaysia and the management of assets along the malaysia's domestic high-speed rail line.
Official website of Malaysia High Speed Rail Corporation (MyHSR Corp).
（www.myhsr.com.my/）▼
Everything went well, with Singapore and Malaysia signing a memorandum of understanding and bilateral agreement on the Singapore-Malaysia high-speed rail project in 2016, defining the details of the high-speed rail project. According to the document, the high-speed rail will start construction in 2018, with Singapore and Malaysia each responsible, and is expected to be completed and opened to traffic by 2026.
According to the last version of the plan, the high-speed rail is officially known as the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed railway, and the abbreviations are various, including the Long Sing high-speed railway, the New Long high-speed railway, the Malaysia-Singapore high-speed railway, the Singapore-Malaysia high-speed railway, and the planned middle station in Putrajaya, Negeri Sembilan, Malacca and Johor.
Approximate route of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail▼
At the end of 2017, the Malaysian High Speed Rail Corporation and the Singapore High Speed Rail Corporation, a subsidiary of the Highways And Communications Authority, conducted a tender for the asset managers of the Singapore-Malaysia high-speed rail, and the winners will be responsible for the design, construction, financing and maintenance of the high-speed rail, which was originally scheduled to be announced in December 2018.
In the face of such a large order for overseas high-speed rail construction projects, in addition to the participation of singapore and Malaysia enterprises with local advantages, many enterprises in countries with high-speed rail construction capabilities are also eager to try, and companies from China, Japan, South Korea and European countries are participating in the bidding.
Tender page on the official website
These companies are basically the world's top railway and vehicle related enterprises, such as China Railway Corporation, France Alstom, Germany Siemens, Spanish Railway Construction and Assistance Company, Spain Talgao, Canada Bombardier Transport, Japan JR East Passenger Railway Co., Ltd., Japan Sumitomo Group, South Korea's Samsung, the United States General Electric, etc., the competition can be described as fierce.
China's high-speed rail has achieved considerable strength under the development of many years
The traditional dominance of Europe and Japan has begun to waver
(Photo: Mirko Kuzmanovic/shutterstock)▼
Yellow
However, no one can wait for the results of the tender, and by the end of another round of Malaysian general elections in 2018, the victorious Pakatan Harapan has formed a new government, and Mahathir is once again prime minister. When the new government came to power, it found that the debt accumulated by the previous government had exceeded 1 trillion ringgit, so it announced that it would review the large infrastructure projects launched by the previous government.
Hello everyone, here I am again
(Mahathir, 2018, photo: shutterstock).)
In May of the same year, the new Prime Minister decided to cancel the high-speed rail project, saying that the high-speed rail project was expensive, but there was no benefit to Malaysia. But in June, he changed his mind, saying that the Singapore-Malaysia high-speed rail was postponed rather than cancelled.
In September, Singapore and Malaysia signed an agreement to extend the start of the high-speed rail project to 31 May 2020 and the opening date to 1 January 2031 or before, to cancel the bidding process for high-speed rail asset managers, and decided that Malaysia would bear the extension costs worth A$15 million.
But really in 2020, the malaysian political crisis came, the Sheraton coup d'état occurred, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad resigned, and Muyuddin of the National Union became the new prime minister. Due to the epidemic and the new government coming to power, the construction of the Singapore-Malaysia high-speed rail, which has been constantly skipping tickets, has fallen into greater difficulties. The new government had no intention of continuing this work, and after discussions with the Singapore government, decided to postpone the restart project until December 31 of that year.
Mahathir is responsible for the extension, I am responsible for the cancellation
(2020, Muyudin, photo: wikipedia)▼
The two countries have made many negotiations on the relevant proposals, but due to the economic impact of the new crown virus pandemic on Malaysia, the agreement has been delayed, and the old extension agreement officially expired on January 1 this year, and Lee Hsien Loong and Mu Youdin jointly announced the official termination of the Singapore-Malaysia high-speed rail project. The losses caused by the cancellation of the project will be compensated by Malaysia, which can be described as losing the wife and folding the soldiers.
From the time the plan was proposed to the present, the Singapore-Malaysia railway plan has gone through more than 20 years, but it has not yet seen any hope of success. In fact, even if this railway is built, the total mileage is only more than 350 kilometers, which is only equivalent to the shortest high-speed rail connection distance from Beijing to Gaocheng, and it is not a great high-speed rail route.
But the ups and downs of regime changes and the delay in getting the funds in place have become the shackles that the unborn railway cannot get rid of, making it stillborn again and again.
bibliography:
1.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YTL_Corporation
2.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Malaysian_political_crisis
3.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuala_Lumpur%E2%80%93Singapore_high-speed_rail
4.Li Miao. The "three twists and turns" of The Singapore-Malaysia high-speed railway[J]. World Rail Transit, 2018(7):48-49.
5. Wu Wenqing. Malaysia welcomes China's bid for Singapore-Malaysia high-speed rail[J]. China Tendering, 2016(26):10-11.
6. Anon. Malaysia and Singapore sign bilateral agreement on Malaysia-Singapore high-speed rail[J]. Guangxi Economics, 2016(12):7-7.
7. Anon. China and Japan launch a large single battle for xinlong high-speed rail[J]. International Brand Watch, 2016(Issue 8):11-11.
8. Journal. China strives for Singapore-Malaysia high-speed rail project[J]. Times Finance, 2016(22):46-46.
9.Yang Shuo. A number of international enterprises have formed a consortium to target the Singapore-Malaysia high-speed rail project[J]. Railway Communication Signal Engineering Technology, 2018, 15(4): 13-13.
*The content of this article is provided by the author and does not represent the position of the Earth Knowledge Bureau
Cover: shutterstock@Syibli Fakih
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