Saturday, January 02, 2021

Cancellation of High Speed Rail between Singapore and KL

I support the cancellation of the High Speed Rail (HSR) between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.


The project was poor conceived at the start. It was difficult to create a joint venture between two countries with different views of how the project should be structured and financed.

This reminded me of the closure of Malaysia Singapore Airlines (MSA) in September 1972.

An important benefit of the HSR was the joint immigration clearance. A traveler can be cleared for both countries at embarkation on either end.

Why can't this joint clearance be implemented at the existing land crossings? There is no reason to have separate clearance which adds to the time and hassle of traveling between the two countries.

The need for a smooth system of clearance was obvious for more than a decades. It is insane to reply on the HSR to implement it.

A more sensible approach was to implement joint clearance at the land crossings independent of the HSR. If this was done, we would have joint clearance many years ago. It would ease the pain to travelers.

I hope that both countries will now implement the joint clearance, especially as there is a low traffic during the pandemic travel restrictions.

I hope that our political leaders take the sensible decision and act now.

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