China May Work with Malaysia and Singapore on High Speed Rail link which would be part of a South East Asia wide high speed rail system

China President Xi Jinping said the project, together with port development and other connectivity projects, were on top of their overseas investment ventures.

 

Earlier this year, Malaysia and Singapore announced plans for the rail link, which is expected to cut land travelling time between the two countries to just 90 minutes.

 

The project, targeted to be completed by 2020, is reported to cost about RM40billion (US$12.6 billion).

 

China’s investment in Malaysia was less than the other way around.

 

“Currently, China’s investment in our country is only about 10% of the US$6.3bil (RM20.05bil) of what Malay-sia invested in China,” Mustapa said.

 

China has already started to get some of the contracts for Thailands high speed rail system.

 

High Speed Rail could be built connecting Singapore to China through Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam

 

A high speed rail system across China, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand would provide tight integration of China with the ASEAN economies. It would provide fast and relatively low cost movement of people and cargo.

 

China's high speed rail

 

China now has about 12000 km of high speed rail and not included is upgraded conventional rail.

 

In 2015 China will have 18,000km of high speed rail.

 

The plan is to expand this to 50,000km by 2020.

 

Just five years after China’s high-speed rail system opened, it is carrying nearly twice as many passengers each month as the country’s domestic airline industry. With traffic growing 28 percent a year for the last several years, China’s high-speed rail network will handle more passengers by early next year than the 54 million people a month who board domestic flights in the United States.

 

Currently, China's high-speed rail service costs significantly less than similar systems in developed countries, but is considerably more expensive than conventional rail service. For the 419 km (260 mi) trip from Beijing to Jinan, HSR costs CNY185 (US$30) and takes 1 hour 32 minutes, while a conventional train costs CNY73 (US$12) and takes about 6 hours.[13] By comparison, the Acela train from Washington DC to New York City covering a slightly shorter distance of 230 mi (370 km) costs US$152–180 (Y930) and takes 2 hour 50 minutes