KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is seeking proposals from private companies to develop a high-speed railway between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, reviving a multi-billion-dollar project called off more than two years ago.
Malaysia and Singapore in 2021 cancelled a plan to build the 350-kilometre rail line after they failed to agree on several proposed changes to the project.
At the time the project was estimated to cost around $17 billion. Companies from China, Japan, South Korea and Europe had expressed an interest in contracts to build, operate and finance the trains and rail assets.
In a statement on Tuesday, MyHSR Corp, the Malaysian government-owned entity responsible for the project, called for the private sector to submit proposals to develop and operate the project via a public-private partnership model.
MyHSR invited local and international firms and consortia to submit proposals.
“(The process) marks the government’s initiative to reactivate the … project via new funding mechanisms and implementation models in efforts to further improve the rail transport infrastructure and to invigorate the national economy,” it said.
Singapore’s transport ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Singapore indicated last year that it was open to fresh proposals from Malaysia on the project.