Indebted Malaysia dithers on US$1 billion rail project with Singapore

A decision on whether to go ahead with the RTS Link has been delayed by another month, it was announced on Sunday

The link, originally due to have been completed in 2026, would connect Singapore with Malaysia’s southern state of Johor

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Commuters arrive at a railway station in Singapore. Photo: AFP

Published: 8:02pm, 29 Sep 2019Updated: 8:02pm, 29 Sep 2019

Malaysia and Singapore have agreed to delay by another month a decision on whether to go ahead with a billion-dollar train project connecting the city state with Malaysia’s southern state of Johor, Malaysia said on Sunday.

The countries agreed to extend the deadline to decide on the RTS Link project by a month to October 31 without any additional cost, Malaysia’s Ministry of Transport said in a statement.

Malaysia will have to pay Singapore abortive costs if the Rapid Transit System Link is not taken forward.

The two countries first suspended the transit system in May as Malaysia’s new government – hit with 1.087 trillion ringgit (US$259.5 billion) of debt and liabilities as of end-2017 – reassessed projects announced by the previous administration.

A journalist looks at documents about the East Coast Rail Link project in April. Photo: EPA

It successfully persuaded China to cut the cost of another train project – the East Coast Rail Link – by nearly a third to about US$11 billion.