SULTAN Ibrahim Iskandar of Johor, who is next in line to the Malaysian throne, plans to revive the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail (HSR) link project with Singapore.

In an interview with Singapore‘s Straits Times, Sultan Ibrahim said he has ideas on how to get the project back on track after Putrajaya said that it will not fund the RM100 billion 350km line.

“I will make it (possible),” he said.

He proposed that the railroad be funded through a private finance initiative with the government paying the contractor to operate the line on a 30-year lease to recoup costs before taking ownership of it.

“If you (keep) to your first proposal, it’s only so much. But because you’re on-off-on-off, today it (costs) so much (more),” he said, referring to the initial RM72 billion cost estimate when the rail link was first announced in 2013.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has said that the government would not fund the project but welcomed private funding for it.

The railway project was axed in January 2021, with Malaysia agreeing to pay Singapore RM320 million in compensation for reneging on the bilateral agreement.

There have been numerous calls for the project to be revived.

Former finance minister Lim Guan Eng said the project should be continued as it would bring economic benefits to Johor, Malacca, Negri Sembilan, and the Klang Valley. – December 10, 2023.