However, some also cautioned against the project given the Covid-19 pandemic and the reluctance from the private sector to take over the project.

The project was axed on Jan 1, with Malaysia having to pay Singapore RM320,270,519.24 in compensation as part of its obligations under the bilateral agreement.

However, former prime minister Najib Razak recently touted the project as an economic game-changer and said it should be revived to put the country on the global stage and “excite the world again” .

Barjoyai Bardai of Universiti Tun Abdul Razak agreed, saying the project would boost the economy following the pandemic.

He said the project could be built with funding mostly from the private sector or foreign investors, with the government holding a significant stake.

“We should not write-off the HSR. If this project takes five years to complete, it will be completed at the right time, when the economy begins to pick up,” he said.

‘Shovel-ready’ projects can boost public investments, says World Bank

The World Bank Group’s lead economist for Malaysia, Apurva Sanghi, said public infrastructure projects could quickly boost aggregate demand and spur economic recovery.

He said the resumption of “shovel-ready” planned transport projects, not just the HSR but also the MRT3 Circle Line and the Pan Borneo Highway, could boost public investment stimulus, which was currently trending downwards.

“Public infrastructure projects can quickly boost aggregate demand and spur economic recovery, which we project to grow at 3.3% this year, and at almost 6% next year,” he said.

However, he said authorities should re-evaluate cost-benefit analyses of these projects, as the underlying assumptions may be outdated due to the pandemic, which has given rise to teleworking or working from home.

He said contracts should be renegotiated to ensure that they pose a lower risk to strained public fiscal and debt dynamics.

If it’s good, then why is the private sector not taking it up?

Geoffrey Williams of Malaysia University of Science and Technology said the cancellation of the project might be a sign that the HSR was not important or essential to either side.

He said that pushing for the project post-Covid-19 would be a distraction because the government has other pressing priorities.

“The key question is: if it is such a good investment, then why doesn’t the private sector offer to build it?

“Or, to put it another way, if it will create 70,000 jobs and recover its costs in nine to 10 years, why doesn’t the government sell the licence to build it to get it done to add value?

“Why does the government have to invest in a project which is viable on its own terms as a good investment prospect?

“This is always the question a government should ask. If it’s so good, why does the private sector avoid it? Or why must the government control it?” the professor of economics asked.

Agreement axed in a painful way, stick to original plans

Transport consultant Goh Bok Yen said that in reviving the HSR, some reluctance from across the Causeway can be expected given the repeated extensions and later the axing of the project last December.

He said the HSR should be reviewed and renegotiated with the original alignment, which covered six cities and towns while sticking to a focus of moving people.

“We called off the agreement in a painful way. Let us have a cooling-off period before we start talking to our neighbour about HSR again.

“In the meantime, we should review the project. We have been out of focus, with personal interests impeding the project and concerns over factors related to property development. Let’s get our priorities right this time and stick to the plans,” he said.

Universiti Sains Malaysia’s (USM) Ahmad Farhan Mohd Sadullah said the HSR should remain scrapped, given the corridors covered in the route are already developed and served by highways and existing rail lines.

The transportation engineering professor said there are also concerns if the HSR can attract enough demand, given the other travel alternatives along the same Kuala Lumpur-Singapore route.

Farhan said the funds could be used to build better links between rural and town areas, improving bus services and other modes of public transport.

“This would be more in line with the green agenda and sustainable transport aspiration,” he said.

‘Build line to Penang’

Woo Wing Thye of Sunway University said if the project was revived, the construction cost should not be inflated by politics.

He said he would support the HSR if it was later extended northwards to Penang, as that would be more valuable.

“It’s like a 20-million person telephone network is worth more than twice a 10-million person telephone network,” he said.

Woo said the line would greatly increase the value of land in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Ipoh and parts of Johor.

“With an updated land tax system, the additional property tax and additional income tax plus ticket revenue will cover all relevant costs,” he said.

USM’s Ahmad Hilmy Abdul Hamid also supported an extension to Penang, adding that it could later be connected to the larger rail network under China’s Belt and Road project.