Japan Wants To See Shinkansen Run On M'sian Land

From Arul Rajoo Durar Raj TOKYO, May 26 (Bernama) -- Japan has made it clear that it wants to see the country's proud Shinkansen bullet train technology used in the planned high speed rail project between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made known his intention during the bilateral meeting with the Malaysian delegation led by his counterpart Najib Razak here Monday. "I hope to see the Shinkansen running on Malaysian land," he said at joint press conference with Najib after the meeting at the Prime Minister's Office. Najib said they spent a lot of time discussing the high speed rail project to be undertaken by both the Malaysian and Singapore governments. "We realised the significance and importance attached to the project by Japan," Najib said. The Prime Minister said he believed that Japan would submit a highly competitive bid when the time comes. Japan's bid to pitch the bullet train project was given prominent coverage by Japanese media ahead of Najib's visit. It was reported here that Japan was also lobbying to introduce the Shinkansen in the high speed rail project between Bangkok and Chiang Mai in Thailand, and Jakarta and Bandung in Indonesia. On Tuesday, Najib will gain first-hand experience of the Shinkansen when he takes a 96-minute jouney to Sendai 325km from here. The Shinkansen line spans 2,400km and runs across Japan. Prior to embarking on the trip, Najib will be given a briefing by officials of Japan Railway on the Shinkansen and developments around Tokyo station, as well as a tour of the train cockpit. Early this month, Najib and his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong reaffirmed that both countries were fully committed to the success of the high speed rail that is expected to reduce travel time to just 90 minutes compared to more than three hours by road now. Malaysia's Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai earlier told Malaysian media covering Najib's visit that besides Japan, several other countries like France, South Korea, Spain and Germany have shown interest to participate in the project. "It's still early as both Malaysia and Singapore need to sort out a lot of details. Japan, on their part, is willing to undertake manpower training, transfer of technology and financing in their bid to win the project," he said. -- BERNAMA