SINGAPORE - Some 150 companies have responded to invitations by the Land Transport Authority and its Malaysian counterpart for a request-for-information (RFI) exercise regarding the proposed high-speed rail link between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

The LTA said that as of 6pm last Friday (Oct 17), the parties - believed to include Japanese, Chinese, Korean, American and European consortia - had registered their interest in the RFI.

The RFI is jointly conducted with Malaysia's Land Public Transport Commission (Spad). The LTA said companies that have yet to register their interest are still welcome to do so. All responses to the RFI must be received by 12pm on Nov 18, 2015.

In a joint statement, Spad chief executive Mohd Azharuddin Mat Sah and LTA chief executive Chew Men Leong said: "We are pleased by the market's positive response to the RFI exercise. We look forward to receiving their feedback next month.

"This feedback will be critical in helping us with the commercial model of the project, and will help ensure that this project starts off on the right note."

The RFI exercise is expected to be concluded by the end of the year.