ASIA: A joint tender for the appointment of the Kuala Lumpur – Singapore high speed rail Assets Company was jointly called by Malaysia and Singapore’s government-owned Infrastructure Companies MyHSR Corp and SG HSR on December 20.
The AssetsCo would be responsible for designing, building, financing, operating and maintaining rolling stock and railway systems for the 350 km line, including the track, electrification, signalling and telecoms.
An industry briefing is scheduled to be held in Kuala Lumpur on January 23, and proposals should be submitted by June 29 2018. Submissions will be evaluated for technical merits, commercial robustness, financial sustainability and price. The InfraCos expect to jointly select a preferred bidder by the end of 2018.
Passenger services are expected to start by the end of 2026. The two InfraCos would pay the AssetsCo an availability fee which would cover its capital expenditure and the cost of operations, maintenance and renewal of the railway systems. The AssetsCo would make the assets available to the international and domestic train operators, which would pay leasing fees to cover its rolling stock and depot costs.
‘Today marks a major milestone for this game-changing project, which will dramatically improve connectivity between Singapore and Malaysia’, said Rama Venkta, Managing Director of SG HSR. ‘We are heartened by the enthusiastic response from the market for the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore HSR so far. Their feedback at the two industry briefings has been valuable in helping us design the parameters of the AssetsCo tender. We look forward to receiving high-quality competitive bids in the coming months.’
