Station in Forest City not decided yet — MyHSR

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 19): Malaysia Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) is evaluating the proposal to build a Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail (KL-Singapore HSR) station at the Forest City development on a reclaimed island in the Straits of Johor. Forest City is a joint venture between China-based property developer Country Garden, the Johor state government and Sultan of Johor.

“We have also been made aware [of the proposal], but currently that proposal is being weighed by SPAD, so they will work together with the government to reach a decision. As of now, there is no decision made yet,” said MyHSR Corp Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Nur lsmal Mohamed Kamal at a press conference held after the unveiling of the artistic designs for the seven HSR stations in Malaysia.

Without a final decision on the additional station, MyHSR will continue to focus on the original plan with seven stations, according to Mohd Nur lsmal.

“The proposal is not meant to increase the cost. As of now, we have seven stations in Malaysia and one in Singapore. I cannot speak about the future, but as of now, our current plan is to focus on the existing stations and make them a huge success as well as a catalyst for growth,” he said.

Last week, The New Straits Times reported that Country Garden is lobbying the Malaysian government to add a station in Forest City through a spur line on KL-SG HSR’s transit service.

On whether the proposal would increase the cost of the project, Mohd Nur lsmal did not provide any financial guidance but said the proposal is not meant to raise the project’s cost.

At the event, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said he is looking forward to the starting of the project next year. He noted the land acquisition process for the project had started.

“Starting with the Section Four process, of the Land Acquisition Act 1960, MyHSR has and is submitting its application to the relevant government authorities for land freezing purposes — essential to study the pre-selected areas’ viability. These selected areas are then further refined to reflect the public’s feedback on the alignment,” said Najib.

“Thereafter, the finalised areas will be acquired for the project. MyHSR Corp has also set up a hotline for the rakyat’s ease to share their feedback and concerns. Again, I encourage everyone to use these avenues to share your feedback.”

Mohd Nur lsmal said MyHSR will conduct the public inspection of the project for three months, starting Nov 1 this year. “Thereafter, we need to take in all the public’s feedback, and if there are no other changes, we will be on track to conduct land acquisitions some time in mid-2018.”

Mohd Nur lsmal also believes MyHSR is on track to call for an open tender to choose a consortium (AssetsCo) to be the asset owner of the KL-SG HSR project — responsible for planning, building, financing and operating the system as part of the HSR, including track work, electrification, signalling and rolling stocks.

“We have done two industry briefings in Singapore and London to engage with all the interested potential bidders, and we understand the activities leading up to the tender are very exciting. Various parties are looking at one another to create a consortium to participate [in the tender]. We believe there will be multiple bids when we open it (the tender) at year end, allowing them to submit [their bids] somewhere in the middle of next year,” he said.

Meanwhile, MyHSR said the architectural designs for all seven HSR stations in Malaysia reflect “the diverse heritage, culture and identity of each city along the HSR corridor”.

MyHSR project delivery group director Mark Loader said the cost associated with the architectural designs is not available because the company “doesn’t have a breakdown for the stations’ elements”.

“In terms of the cost of constructing the stations, we are going out on a competitive bid, so we cannot really reveal the construction cost, otherwise that would influence the bidding process. However, all the way through the project, we will ensure to deliver value for money for Malaysia, with the most economical solution we can deliver.”

Mohd Nur lsmal also kept mum on the sum that has been spent before the commencement of constructing the KL-SG HSR. “We are owned by the finance ministry, and we are given a budget to operate, until such time any financing arrangement is decided on,” he said, without revealing the said budget amount.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on Oct 19, 2017.

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