SHAH ALAM: The Selangor government is eyeing Bangi as the ninth station in the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail (HSR) project.
Lauding the HSR as an opportunity to attract investors to Selangor, state executive councillor Datuk Teng Chang Khim said the state government hoped the Federal Government would consider setting up at least one stop in Selangor.
Two other locations deemed suitable by the state government to become HSR transit points were in Serdang and Puchong.
Teng, who is also Selangor Investment Committee for Industry and Commerce, Small and Medium Enterprises and Transportation chairman, said the proposal, if it materialised, would transform southern Selangor into a hub for business and industrial activities.
“We welcome the HSR project as it will spur Malaysia’s economy as well as Singapore’s, besides strengthening bilateral ties.
“We urge the Federal Government to put at least one HSR stop in Selangor. The state government had played its part to help in land acquisition for HSR, and it would be the right thing to do by building a station in Selangor,” he told the New Straits Times on Wednesday.
He said Selangor should be among the transit points for HSR as other states (Johor, Malacca and Negri Sembilan) and Putrajaya, which it would pass through, would have at least one transit location. Johor would have three.
“For Selangor, areas in Bangi, Serdang and Puchong are suitable. Bangi is an important industrial area and having a HSR transit point there would make it attractive to investors.”
Last Tuesday, Malaysia and Singapore sealed a landmark pact to develop the HSR network linking Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.
The 350km link will cut travel time to just 90 minutes.
The HSR is part of the government’s Economic Transformation Programme.
It will connect seven cities in Malaysia to Singapore.
The stations that have currently been identified are the terminus stations in Kuala Lumpur (in Bandar Malaysia), Putrajaya, Seremban, Ayer Keroh, Muar, Batu Pahat and Iskandar Puteri, with the final stop in Singapore.