He said transport minister Wee Ka Siong was in talks with his Singaporean counterpart, S Iswaran, on the matter.
During a question-and-answer session with the foreign media and Bernama here yesterday, Ismail said if the project was revived, it would involve some changes, including the terms and conditions.
“It is an ongoing discussion. If possible, we want it to be speeded up because Malaysia also has plans to establish HSR between Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok.
“If possible, we want to link Bangkok-KL and KL-Singapore,” he said.
He envisaged that the rail line could extend to China as China and Thailand were also building a high-speed rail line.
Asked if reviving the project was a priority of his administration, Ismail said: “Not to say priority, but the planning is already there.”
He said that as the prices of raw materials had gone up, Malaysia may consider reducing the size of the stations to keep the overall cost of the project in check.
On Nov 29 last year, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was reported as saying the republic was open to any new proposal from Malaysia on the HSR project, though both countries had earlier agreed to terminate it.
Malaysia and Singapore signed bilateral agreements for the project on Dec 13, 2016. The 350km railway line had been scheduled for completion in 2026, reducing the travel time between both destinations to 90 minutes.
However, in September 2018, both sides agreed to shelve the project worth RM110 billion until Dec 31, 2020.
On Jan 1, 2021, Malaysia and Singapore jointly announced the termination of the project as no agreement had been reached on the changes proposed by Malaysia, and the agreement had expired on Dec 31, 2020.
In March 2021, Malaysia announced that it had paid S$102.8 million to Singapore for the cost incurred by the republic for the development of the HSR project and the delays involved.
On another matter, Ismail said the government was looking into the need for a third link between Johor and Singapore to reduce the congestion at the Johor Causeway and the Second Link.
“It is still in the planning stages, we will see if there is a need for it,” he said.