Malaysia cancels bullet train project

Malaysia has scrapped plans for a multi-billion-dollar high-speed bullet train connecting Kuala Lumpur and Singapore because of high costs, a government official said today.

“The government will not go ahead with the project because the financial model submitted involves a significant cost to be borne by the government,” said Sulaiman Mahbob, director general of the Economic Planning Unit, according to 'The Star'.

The US$2.5bn bullet train would have been able to travel the 200-mile distance between Malaysia’s biggest city, Kuala Lumpur, and neighbouring Singapore in 90 minutes.

Malaysian conglomerate YTL Corp. had proposed the project as an alternative to the seven-hour train service of state railway company KTM Berhad.

Flights between the two cities are 45 minutes; buses take about five hours on the North-South Expressway that runs the length of the country.