KL-S’pore HSR completes 3-month public inspection exercise

PETALING JAYA (Feb 8): The Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail (HSR) project has garnered more than 35,000 responses — a record number of public feedback for rail-based public transportation projects in Malaysia — over the course of its recently-completed three-month public inspection exercise, said MyHSR Corp in a statement today.

According to MyHSR Corp, the public inspection that had started on Nov 1, 2017 and ended on Jan 31, 2018 offered the public information such as the line’s planned alignment, locations of the seven Malaysian HSR stations, typical station features and layout, land acquisition plans, railway technical data and the Socio-economic Development Programme at more than 130 booths set up at key locations along the alignment between Kuala Lumpur and Iskandar Puteri, Johor.

The Kuala Lumpur-Singapore HSR currently has eight stops within these locations — Bandar Malaysia, Sepang-Putrajaya, Seremban, Melaka, Muar, Batu Pahat and Iskandar Puteri stations in Malaysia and the Jurong East station in Singapore.

From the feedback collated from the public and surveys, 95% of the responses towards the project were positive, with 98% of the positive feedback coming from Kuala Lumpur and Johor.

The bulk of the survey respondents fell into the 21- to 40-year-old age group.

Visitors were most interested in the potential benefits brought about by the project in terms of ease of travel and economic development, land acquisition process, station locations and alignment, and environmental mitigation measures to be employed by the project.

“We are encouraged by the strong support for the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore HSR project garnered from the public inspection exercise. The public inspection booths were designed to introduce the project in further detail to the public,” said MyHSR Corp CEO Datuk Mohd Nur Ismal Mohamed Kamal.

“By locating them in high-traffic areas, our team on-site were able to gather pertinent insights on how to further improve the project.

“It is also our goal to continuously engage the public from time to time to share updates on the project,” he added.

The Kuala Lumpur-Singapore HSR’s Environmental Impact study was also displayed compulsorily for one month at the public inspection booths from Dec 27, 2017 to Jan 25, 2018.

Following this display, the study is still available for review and feedback on MyHSR Corp’s website until Feb 9, 2018.

The Kuala Lumpur-Singapore HSR is targeted to start operations by Dec 31, 2026.