HSR link from Singapore to Malaysia ‘to boost property values’
The planned High-Speed Rail service linking Malaysia and Singapore is on track to boost property volumes and values, it is claimed.
The ambitious S$15.6billionHigh-Speed Rail (HSR) project, which is due to be completed around 2020, will mean the journey from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur is cut from up to six hours to just 90-minutes.
The location of the terminal in Singapore has yet to be finalised, but there are three main choices, the city centre, Tuas West and Jurong East. There is also planned to be five stops along the 330kilometre line across Negri Sembilan, Malacca and Johor, which will take the journey time to 2 hours for stopping trains.
Ong Teck Hui, National Director for global agent JLL, who is based in Singapore, says, “Whichever option is chosen, there will be investment and development opportunities and values of properties at or near the chosen node will be enhanced.
“Developers, investors, contractors and other real estate industry players have much to look forward to when the terminal location is decided.”
The high-speed rail service is expected to boost travel between the two countries, resulting in significant economic gains for both.
“Besides broader economic benefits, the high-speed rail will also have a positive impact on the real estate sector.
Of the three locations for the terminal, Tuas West, on the western coastline offers the lowest construction costs and the rail link would complement the new port facilities which are planned there in around 20 years.
Jurong East is already a commercial and transportation hub and is just half an hour from the city centre. However, as it is 13kilometres from the border, there would be extra cost incurred in bringing the track all that way.
The city centre is the most expensive option and is even further from the border at 27kilometres away. It also presents various engineering challenges, including constructing an underground tunnel through a densely built up area.
The location of the Malaysian terminal had already been decided and will be at Bandar Malaysia in Sungai Besi, which is the current site of the Royal Malaysian Air Force base.
The route the track will take is still being finalised, but property analysts expect it will run near major urban centres in Negeri Sembilan, Malacca and Johor. Property prices in Nilai and Seremban along the proposed route of the track have already escalated.
The announcement of the location was made by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak at a joint press conference with his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong. “The project has created a lot of excitement and both sides are working hard to achieve the 2020 deadline for completion,” he says.
Bandar Malaysia, 3.5km from the Petronas Twin Towers, is set to see further development with new condominium projects, shopping malls, colleges, parks and offices and more in the pipeline.
The line could pass through a station at In Nusajaya, where Malaysia’s second Formula 1 track is being built by Singaporean billionaire Peter Lim, The RM3.2billion FASTrack Iskandar, the largest of its kind in South-east Asia, is due to open in 2016 and is part of the 1090hectare Motorsports City.
In 2013, 1.281 million Malaysians visited Singapore, the third largest nationality after China and Indonesia.
Visitor arrivals from Malaysia have been increasing on average at 1 1.3% a year in the past decade, outperforming the total annual average rise in visitor numbers of 9.8% per annum. Malaysia and Singapore’s are also close trading partners.
By Adrian Bishop, Editor, OPP Connect
Twitter: @OPPnews
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