British-Australian consortium is preferred bidder for KL-S’pore HSR

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 17): A consortium of WSP Engineering Malaysia Sdn Bhd of Australia, UK-based Mott MacDonald Malaysia Sdn Bhd and Ernst & Young Advisory Services Sdn Bhd (EY) has been selected as the joint development partner (JDP) for the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail (HSR) project, which will cut travel time between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur to 90 minutes.

The JDP appointment marks the start of the journey to bring the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore HSR project to reality, said MyHSR Corp Sdn Bhd chief executive officer (CEO) Mohd Nur Ismal Mohamed Kamal (pictured).

“Further announcements will be made in due course for other appointments of the project,” he said in a joint statement yesterday.

The WSP-Mott MacDonald-EY consortium was up against seven other bidders for the JDP contract, of which the tender was called on Aug 22, 2016, and closed on Oct 17 of the same year.

MyHSR and the Land Transport Authority (LTA) of Singapore said under the contract, the three-member consortium will provide project management support and technical advice on HSR systems and operations.

“The JDP will also develop the technical and safety standards to be adopted for the project.

“In addition, it will assist the joint project team established between MyHSR and LTA with the preparation of documents for the forthcoming tenders relating to the joint aspects of the project, such as the appointments of the AssetsCo and OpCo International,” they added.

“With the collective expertise and extensive experience of the consortium in HSR projects internationally, MyHSR and LTA will be able to kick-start the preparation of upcoming joint tenders for this strategic project,” said LTA CEO Ngien Hoon Ping.

“Together with the advanced engineering study contract awarded earlier by LTA to carry out engineering studies for the Singapore stretch of the HSR, these two developments mark the next chapter in our journey to deliver the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore HSR project targeted by end-2026,” Ngien added.

The 350km Kuala Lumpur-Singapore HSR is a strategic project between the governments of Malaysia and Singapore following the signing of a bilateral agreement on Dec 13 last year. Although both governments have yet to disclose the estimated cost of the HSR, Second Finance Minister Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani was reported as saying that the rail link would cost RM50 billion to RM60 billion to build.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on Feb 17, 2017.

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