Malaysia to axe HSR

PETALING JAYA (May 28): Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has confirmed that the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high speed-rail (HSR) will be cancelled, with the penalty likely to be around RM500 million, the prime minister told reporters today after a Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia meeting.

“We need to do away with some of the unnecessary projects, for example the high-speed rail, which is going to cost us RM110 billion and will not earn us a single sen. That will be dropped.

“We have an agreement with Singapore. We have to talk with Singapore about dropping that project,” said the 92-year-old premier.

The 350km HSR will have a proposed seven stops — Bandar Malaysia, Bangi-Putrajaya, Seremban, Melaka, Muar, Batu Pahat, and Iskandar Puteri — in Malaysia, and Jurong East in Singapore.