It seems the calls of envious Singaporeans everywhere to have Japan take railway construction here to the next level have been heard. According to a report by The Straits Times, Japan announced that it will be bidding for the project to construct the much anticipated Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR), due to be completed in 2026. And to the delight of many, the bid will encompass the same technological expertise employed in Japan’s renowned bullet train system, the Shinkansen.
Makio Miyagawa, Japan’s ambassador to Malaysia, stated that Japan would be offering their “best-suited technologies to Malaysians and Singaporeans as well as full-fledged training for the officials, operators and engineers”, so as to facilitate smooth operations that don’t disadvantage the local teams.
More importantly, he assured that, like with the Shinkansen, safety would be of the highest priority. “Japan invented the bullet train technology,” he said. “The advantage of the Shinkansen is that it has operated for almost 50 years without any fatal accident or human capital problems. This is the merit of the system which is based upon the superiority of the hardware as well as the excellence of the software operations based upon the accumulated know-how of the engineers and operators in Japan.”
Music to our ears. Other potential bidders for the prestigious HSR project, which will be awarded by end-2018, includes China, South Korea and France—but it’s clear we’ve all got our hearts and hopes pinned on The Land of the Efficient Trains.
