The republic’s Land Transport Authority’s (LTA) deputy chief executive, Chua Chong Kheng, said both countries had made good progress.

“We are currently on time to call the tender by year-end,” he said.

Chua said this to participants at the Third High-Speed Rail (HSR) Symposium, “Sharing 52 years” experience of the Shinkansen’ here today.

The symposium is hosted by the land, infrastructure, transport and tourism ministry of Japan; foreign affairs ministry; economy, trade and industry ministry; Japan External Trade Organisation; Japan Railway Technical Service; and, Japan Overseas Railway System Association.

He said in the lead up to the tender launch, both countries had engaged the market.

“We also sought views about how to improve our design and address some of the market concerns. We got very good feedback,” he said.

The first industry briefing, which was jointly conducted by LTA and MyHSR Corp Sdn Bhd of Malaysia here on July 5, attracted close to 400 participants from 165 international and local entities.

The briefing welcomed participants from across the entire HSR value chain – suppliers and integrators of rolling stock and system, network operators, engineering and legal consultants, financiers and investors, operators and construction companies.

Both countries will jointly conduct a second industry briefing on Sept 26 to continue the market engagement process for the HSR project, he said.

Chua said this briefing would share additional information on AssetsCo’s tender and address some of the key queries raised by the market players in the first industry briefing.

“I would like to encourage all interested bidders to attend the second industrial briefing to be held in London,” said Chua.

AssetsCo will be responsible for the design, building, financing and maintenance of rolling stock, and to design, build, finance, operate and maintain rail assets such as track-work, power, signalling and telecommunications.

The express service is set to commence by Dec 31, 2026.