SINGAPORE - Two reference design consultant contracts for the upcoming Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) project have been awarded to two engineering firms, Systra and Meinhardt.

The first contract deals with civil reference design works of the two international stations within Malaysia, namely Bandar Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur and Iskandar Puteri in Johor, while the second contract covers the civil reference design works from the Bandar Malaysia Station to the border between Selangor and Negeri Sembilan.

The contracts were given out by the MyHSR Corporation, a unit under the Malaysian Ministry of Finance tasked with undertaking the rail project.

Headquartered in France, Systra is currently working on almost 3,000 rail projects worldwide. Meinhardt, based in Singapore, has 45 offices globally and had a hand in numerous projects in Singapore, including the Marina Bay Financial Centre, One Raffles Quay, and Gardens by the Bay.

"This is a very prestigious project that all the world's major engineering companies want to work on and we are honoured to have been selected," said Systra chief executive office Pierre Verzat.

Meinhardt Group chief executive officer Omar Shahzad said, "We are excited to be working with Systra and other partners to undertake this iconic transportation project in South-east Asia."

"This win gives a major impetus to our collaboration with Systra to leverage our complementary skill sets, capabilities and local presence across the transportation sector."

The 350km Kuala Lumpur-Singapore HSR is slated to be completed by end-2026 and will cut travel time between the two cities to 90 minutes.