Good Execution Will Be Crucial, Says PM Lee Of HSR

By Massita Ahmad SINGAPORE, July 20 (Bernama) -- "The High-Speed Rail (HSR) is a massive, long-term investment. Good execution will be crucial," says Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his latest Facebook posting Tuesday. Lee was in Malaysia Tuesday afternoon to witness the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Prime Minister Najib Razak for the HSR. "PM Najib and I agreed to build the HSR between KL and Singapore three years ago. Since then our officials have worked hard and long, through several Ramadans and Rayas (Eid), to reach agreement on key issues," he wrote. "We need to work closely together on many joint decisions and implementation issues. PM Najib and I will give full attention to this, because we want this major project to be done right," Lee added. The 350km rail would reduce travel time between the two countries to just 90 minutes, with speeds of over 300km/hr. For Singapore, the HSR terminus will be in Jurong East. In Malaysia, it will have seven stations, namely in Bandar Malaysia, Putrajaya, Seremban, Ayer Keroh, Muar, Batu Pahat, and Iskandar Puteri. "With the HSR, people will think of Singapore-KL the same way as they think of London-Paris, Seoul-Busan, Taipei-Kaohsiung, Shanghai-Nanjing, or Tokyo-Osaka. "If all goes well, the first trains will start running around 2026, just 10 years from now!," Lee wrote further. Together with his posting, Lee posted three photos during his half-day visit to Malaysia. One of the photos was during the exchanging of MoU signed between Singapore's Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Minister for Transport, Khaw Boon Wan and Malaysian Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Abdul Rahman Dahlan. Another interesting photo which garnered 200-over likes in less than an hour was a photo of him with Najib. Taken by his wife Ho Ching over lunch, the photo came with a caption, "PM Najib offering me more durian at lunch. How could I say no? :)." -- BERNAMA