The Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) project has been terminated after both Malaysia and Singapore failed to reach an agreement on Dec 31, 2020.
Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Malaysia’s Prime Minister Muhyiddin bin Mohd Yassin met via videoconference on Dec 2, 2020, to review the status of the project.
The meeting touched on topics including changes proposed by Malaysia to the HSR project.
According to the statement released by the Ministry of Transport on Jan 1, 2021, Malaysia has since allowed the Kuala Lumpur – Singapore High Speed Rail Bilateral Agreement (BA) to be terminated.
Malaysia also has to compensate Singapore for costs already incurred by Singapore in fulfilling its obligations under the agreement.
On Dec 24, 2020, The Edge Malaysia says Malaysia is set to pay RM300 million ($98.3 million) after deciding to terminate the contract and instead undertake the project without Singapore’s participation, according to a source.
See: Malaysia to go it alone with HSR project, pay RM300m compensation to Singapore — source
Singapore and Malaysia signed the agreement in 2016, which would see the line stretching from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore’s Jurong East. The line was expected to reduce time between the Malaysian capital and the Republic to 90 minutes.
The construction of the HSR project was subsequently suspended from September 2018 to Dec 31, 2020, at Malaysia’s request.
The extension of the suspension period until Dec 31, 2020, would be the final extension.
Singapore says it looks forward to "continued good relations and close cooperation with Malaysia for the mutual benefit of the people of both countries".
