YTL BULLET TRAIN KL-SINGAPORE – 90 mins; ACCELERATES Country’s Economy; BENEFIT TNB & IPPs; Achieve 20% POWER Reserve REDUCTION Target

But will the YTL Bullet Train followed the Japanese or Korean Models? Or the German, French or Spanish ones? These trains are runing at 300 km/hr while the one proposed by YTL is at 216 km/h (325 km in 90 mins. With the historical opening of the express rail in April 2004, Korea has joined the league of France, Japan, Germany and Spain and entered into the super high-speed train era.

The above and below are models of Japan's
Shinkansen - a high speed inter city train with
running speeds of up to 300 km/h (186mph).
YTL Logo inserted

The above and below are models of the
Korean Bullet Train. With construction of
the Seoul ~ Busan KTX line, railway passenger
transportation capacity increased by
3.4 times YTL logo inserted

It looks like it will be a certainty that this Bullet Train would have the Government nod in the coming months. It has so much “icings” that the proposal would be difficult to reject. On the government part, its biggest attraction is it might help the government to realize the 20% Power reserve reduction target. Moreover its funding for this RM8 billion mega project is entirely “private finance initiative” type. But will YTL get it as the government is asking for other options.

In an interview with TV3 Exchange programme , YTL Corp’s MD Tan Sri Francis Yeoh said the proposed bullet train to Singapore would not only help accelerate the country’s economy but it would also help to benefit the energy giant TNB and the IPP producers. He `added that if approved, it should also help the government to realize the 20% power reserve reduction target.

He elaborated further “When the 9MP takes off the consumption of electricity would be enlarge substantially if all the projects go on stream. But this (Bullet Train) is yet another project that would consume electricity more.

“On another note the tariff charge paid by TNB to the IPPs between 14-17 sen per KWh is reasonable.”

He added TNB would have to find ways to reduce its debt burden of RM30 billion.

And this is Bernama’s report

“YTL To Submit Bullet Train Proposal Soon To The Government

KUALA LUMPUR, July 21 (Bernama) -- The YTL Group will submit a proposal containing the financial and engineering aspects on the RM8 billion bullet train project between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore to the government as soon as possible.

Managing director, Datuk Francis Yeoh Sock Ping, in an interview with TV3's "The Exchange" Friday, said he believed the project was viable and must start now.

"If we do not implement this and physically put it on the ground within five years, I think we could have lost a golden opportunity," he said.

Yeoh said it would take two years to iron out the process and another three years to build it physically, and this would be on fast-track basis.

Furthermore, he said, it would not be difficult to raise the financing which was considered a done deal given the viability of the project and YTL saw no problem finding serious fund managers and investors

Yeoh said the need to start the project fast was, firstly, the technology was cheap, the land cost currently affordable and it would be environmentally-friendly, running on electricity.

"Technology cost in South-East Asia is cheap. YTL was successful in building the ERL (Express Rail Link) which was considered the cheapest fast train in the world at RM5 million per kilometre as against an average RM150 million elsewhere," he said.

Yeoh said land cost given by the government, especially the corridors, were not expensive today and as a package, the government would pass this to the consumers, accounting for why the ERL charge from the city to the airport was only RM35.

"In the case of the fast train, the corridors to Singapore are not expensive as compared to the land cost in Europe which is higher than technology cost in order to avoid the development area.

"Also, as the train will run on electricity, the project will benefit Tenaga Nasional Bhd and the independent power producers," he said.

On whether the connection to Singapore would be a bridge or underground tunnel, he said, "we are not hostage to civil engineering or geography. We understand the complication of the present environment in discussions between Malaysia and Singapore. We would avoid some of these difficulties. We have a solution."

"If we can successfully negotiate with the Malaysian government, then we will have a chat with Singapore. I do not see any negative sign signal from Singapore on this project," he said.

On whether he foresees problems getting the approval from Singapore, Yeoh said: "I do not say it is going to be easy but I would say that geo-economics are more important than geopolitics especially when there is opportunity and there is the money to do it," he said.

And from

Singapore Business Times, July 20, 2006

YTL announces its plans first but other firms will be considered ; By PAULINE NG ;IN KUALA LUMPUR

PRIME Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi yesterday said that the government was open to the idea of a high-speed train service to Singapore and was seeking proposals from interested companies.

He said that property and utility firm YTL Corporation, which was the first to announce its plan for a high-speed line between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, was not the only company that had pitched the idea to the government.

Mr Abdullah said he had not seen YTL's proposal. 'We are also requesting other companies to submit their proposals. Right now only YTL has submitted the proposal,' he said - without naming the companies.

Under the YTL plan, a train journey from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore, covering a distance of 325 km, would take just 90 minutes - rather than the seven hours or so taken by the present rail service.

http://business-times.asia1.com.sg/sub/news/story/0,4574,200855,00.html?

YTL rail project faces rough ride
It will have multiple ramifications, complicated by S'pore-KL ties

By S JAYASANKARAN IN KUALA LUMPUR ;Published July 6, 2006

ABOUT a year ago tycoon Francis Yeoh briefed Malaysian officials from the National Economic Action Committee, a government agency under the Prime Minister's department, on a plan to construct a high speed rail link between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

Mr Yeoh apparently raved about it saying it would transform economic ties between the two countries and that it would take two hours door-to-door to travel between the two cities. 'I came away pretty impressed,' said one businessman who had been invited for the briefing. 'I think it's a marvellous idea.'

It may be easier said than done. According to bankers familiar with the plan, Mr Yeoh had been hawking this project for some time now, even during the tenure of former premier Mahathir Mohamad but nothing came of it presumably because of the prickly bilateral relations that characterised the waning years of Dr Mahathir's tenure. 'We have been proposing this for eight years now,' Mr Yeoh told BT. 'Now that there is rapprochement, let's move forward because this is a great project. It's a no-brainer.'

Mr Yeoh is dusting off his old idea under a new banner: the Private Finance Initiative first articulated by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in his recently released Ninth Malaysia Plan document.

He said as much to the New Straits Times earlier this week, saying that he would invite all relevant parties to invest in the special purpose vehicle that would fund and build the link. On his invite list: Malaysian Airline System, Singapore Airlines and the airport operators of both cities. Even so, the idea isn't about to take off any time soon.

'This kind of project has multiple ramifications whose impacts aren't known,' said a senior Malaysian government official. 'It will impact both airlines, it will impact the (North South) highway and it could impact the way people live. Singaporeans could live in Kuala Lumpur an vice-versa. There has to be a careful economic impact study conducted.'

Complicating the project further is the present uneasiness between the two countries over the replacement of the Causeway and KL's scrapping of the half-bridge project.

Mr Yeoh's plan calls for a dedicated new bridge to carry the high speed ink. Some officials fret that the new bridge could kill off the idea of replacing the Causeway altogether.

Mr Yeoh said that the project could cost as much as RM8 billion (S$3.5 billion) - 'It's about there, plus or minus'. But a consultant engineer contacted by BT said the figure was a 'guesstimate'.

Even so, there is no doubt that Mr Yeoh would be good for the money. His flagship YTL Corporation is flush and has a RM6 billion war chest.

Mr Yeoh declined to say if both governments had agreed to the project or were even considering it.

'I can't tell you that but if it did not go ahead, I would be very sad,' he said. 'It would be a tremendously missed opportunity for both sides.'

According to other sources, the Singapore government has received informal proposal from KL on Mr Yeoh's idea but they also say that Mr Yeoh has informally talked to several high-ranking Singaporean leaders about the link.

http://www.zoomfinance.com/zf/news/afxnews/afxnews.jsp?

MALAYSIA TRANSPORT MINISTRY SAYS UNAWARE OF YTL BULLET
TRAIN PROPOSAL - REPORT 06-Jul-2006 14:29:00

KUALA LUMPUR (XFN-ASIA) - The Ministry of Transport has not received any roposal on a bullet train service, deputy minister Tengku Azlan Sultan Abu akar was quoted by the New Straits Times as saying.

He said, however, it the ministry receives such a proposal; it will consider the feasibility of a bullet train service from the KL Sentral station to Singapore.

"It may have been proposed to other people but definitely not to the transport ministry," he said.

According to a report by the same paper yesterday, YTL Corp Bhd managing director Francis Yeoh said the company has proposed to the Malaysia and Singapore governments to build an 8.0 bln rgt high-speed rail link to neighboring Singapore.
____

..and from AP report
YTL Corp. to submit feasibility study on Malaysia-Singapore bullet train
Jul 6, 5:37 AM EDT

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -- Malaysian conglomerate YTL Corp. will submit a feasibility study to the Transport Ministry soon on plans to build a high-speed bullet train link between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, a top executive said Thursday.

YTL managing director Francis Yeoh said he has spoken to Transport Minister Chan Kong Choy, who wanted to know whether the bullet train link to cover the 325-kilometer (200-mile) journey in 90 minutes was possible.

"It is a feasible project. We will be submitting a detailed report on it soon," he told The Associated Press, but didn't give any timeframe.

Yeoh was rebutting comments by Deputy Transport Minister Tengku Azlan Abu Bakar who was quoted as saying in Thursday's New Straits Times that the ministry was not aware of YTL's proposal.

Yeoh told the AP on Wednesday that the company was already in talks with the Malaysian and Singapore governments, and hopes to begin construction in two years. The plan is to complete the estimated 8 billion ringgit (US$2.2 billion; RM8 billion) project in less than 5 years.

He said the company plans to raise funds for the project through the global capital market.

The Kuala Lumpur-Singapore link could connect with an express train from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, which is also run by YTL, to the city train terminal, he said.

Singapore, located across the Johor Strait at the southern tip of the Malaysian peninsula, is connected with Kuala Lumpur by air, road and a diesel train on a meter-gauge track built in 1913 by British colonial rulers.

Flights between the two cities are 45 minutes long, while buses take about four hours to cover the distance on the modern North-South Expressway that runs the length of the country.

YTL's companies are involved in a range of businesses including power generation, real estate, and construction, cement manufacturing. It also owns several shopping malls, resorts and hotels such as the JW Marriott Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.