KUALA LUMPUR: The Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail (KL-SG HSR) will provide Malaysian firms and talents access to a vast and untapped market, including the China-ASEAN Economic Trade Zone, the Eastern Economic Corridor in Thailand, and sub-regional economic zones like the Greater Mekong Sub-region.
Market insiders said that the KL-SG HSR, which is the first cross-border HSR in ASEAN with plans to connect to the Pan-Asian Railway and other ASEAN nations like Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos in the future, can encourage the economy to develop deeper integration with its neighbors, in line with the goal of placing Malaysia among the world's 30 largest economies.
"This opportunity will transform how people travel and conduct business, particularly in light of the forecast growth of the southern corridor's total demand to exceed 250 million annual journeys by 2060. Studies indicate that the HSR will be able to accommodate 140 million additional trips per year," he told Business Times.
With more than 30,000 flights annually, the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore air corridor is currently among the busiest international air routes in the world.
Furthermore, the 350 km gap between the two major cities is thought to be just the right amount of distance for the HSR to flourish—it is neither too short nor too far for auto travel.
The goal of making Malaysia more environmentally friendly and sustainable is another area of emphasis for Ekonomi Madani.
"Compared to driving a car or flying, which both have lower carbon emissions, the HSR is a far more environmentally friendly form of transportation. Additionally, it consumes less energy per passenger kilometer, which helps to fight climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
"It is critical to the advancement of local citizens' quality of life and the growth of economies in developing countries," said the market insider.
The transportation sector's carbon emissions accounted for 28.8 per cent of Malaysia's total fossil fuel combustion, significantly higher than the global average of 24.5 per cent, with road transportation being the major contributor to carbon emissions among all transport subsectors.
"It is evident from this that our plans to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 are not looking good. We can get closer to that admirable goal with the KL-SG HSR, which is expected to cut greenhouse gas emissions by about 10 million tons (CO2e) in its first 50 years of operation," he said.
According to the insider, one of the keys to successful HSR delivery is the early adoption of economic corridor planning to maximise the project's benefits and growth potential.
He said that because of the rise and development of new economic sectors and the urban transformation, early planning in conjunction with the HSR can result in increased investments, productivity, employment growth, and the creation of skilled jobs.
"A successful example of this was the late 1990s private sector-financed construction of the Taiwan HSR. Economic clusters with distinctive themes were identified in partnership with the government for each of the five stations along the HSR corridor, and they were developed in accordance with the Integrated Economic Development Plan.
"For inclusive and sustainable growth throughout the city, the HSR implementation must therefore support integrated approaches in development planning and be in line with national, sectoral, regional, state, and local development plans," he said.