Malaysia seeks social impact assessment for high speed rail

The first station for the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail, Bandar Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur and Singapore signed an agreement last December to build and complete the HSR by 2026. PHOTO: MYHSR CORPORATION SDN. BHD

KUALA LUMPUR (BERNAMA) - Malaysia's MyHSR Corp will call for a tender to appoint a consultant to carry out social impact assessment, or SIA, for the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) project.

The appointed consultant will be required to complete an independent assessment on the social and land use impact from the implementation of the project, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

MyHSR Corp is the Malaysia project delivery company that is working with Singapore's Land Transport Authority on the HSR project.

Kuala Lumpur and Singapore signed an agreement last December to build and complete the HSR by 2026.

MyHSR's CEO Mohd Nur Ismal Mohamed Kamal said the SIA tender is open to experienced companies registered with the Ministry of Finance. Individual consultants from companies that are responsible to conduct the study must be registered either with the Malaysia Institute of Planners or the Malaysia Social Impact Association.

The SIA study is a requirement under Malaysian law for government mega projects.

It must determine and analyse the social and land use impact

The consultants must also identify effective mitigation measures for implementation, with the public asked to give their feedback.

Spanning 350km, the railway line will have seven stations in Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Seremban, Ayer Keroh, Muar, Batu Pahat and Iskandar Puteri.

The only station in Singapore will be at Jurong East.

The HSR will have a non-stop express service between KL and Singapore taking just 90 minutes. The journey currently takes four hours by car.

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