SINGAPORE - A second industry briefing held in preparation for an upcoming tender for the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur high-speed rail (HSR) saw continued "strong support" from global industry players, said the Singapore and Malaysia authorities in a joint statement on Thursday (Sept 28).

More than 200 participants from over 110 international organisations took part in the session held in London on Tuesday (Sept 26).

Potential tender participants, which were from all over the world, included consortia, suppliers, financial institutions and investors, said Singapore's Land Transport Authority (LTA) and Malaysia's MyHSR Corporation.

A tender is expected to be called later this year (2017) for an Assets Company (AssetsCo) for the HSR project.

The AssetsCo will be responsible for designing, building, financing and maintaining all rolling stock. The appointed firm will also build, operate and maintain rail assets, including track-work, power, and signalling systems.

Mr Ngien Hoon Ping, LTA's chief executive, said of the recent briefing: "We are heartened by the response from the market for this second industry briefing. It gives us confidence that we will receive high-quality and competitive bids for the AssetsCo tender, which we will call by the

end of the year."

The first industry briefing to engage the market was held in Singapore in July, and attracted 400 participants from 165 organisations.

Mr James Cameron, HSBC's co-head of infrastructure and real estate for Asia-Pacific, said: "It was very encouraging to see the development of the thoughts around the project structure since the last industry briefing, and valuable to be able to discuss the project with the procurement team as well as the large number of international representatives present."

The 350km Singapore-KL HSR, which will cut travel time between the two cities to 90 minutes, is targeted to be operational by end-2026.