Making use of existing infrastructure

SUGGESTIONS of reviving plans for a high-speed rail system are surfacing again. They seem to crop up every now and then.

True, the idea has its attractions. Imagine sitting in a comfortable setting, with a book or magazine in hand, and being safely transported to as far as Singapore in a matter of less than three hours from Kuala Lumpur (a timeframe suggested by initial plans being mooted).

Add to that a lower risk of accidents and the absence of a need to get to an airport far away like the KL International Airport, and the high-speed train will certainly appeal to a lot of people, especially those from the Klang Valley.

It's not that I'm anti-development or against the spending of public money for mega projects. It's just that I wonder if we are getting the best out of our existing rail infrastructure at the moment?

At the centre of this lies KTM Bhd. Questions are still being raised on the punctuality and efficiency of train services run by KTM such as its interstate and Komuter services.

Many would agree that without having to spend too much money, much can be done to the existing rail services in the country. If rail services worked better on trains, there's a straight-forward positive knock-on effect: many of us wouldn't need to use express busses as much. Indeed, the entire express bus service would need to be more competitive in order to attract customers away from rail services.

Hence market forces would nudge these bus services to get their act together, resulting in better quality drivers and hopefully, less tragic accidents on our highways. (Fewer express bus companies would also mean less traffic on our highways, a positive spin-off for all of us who like to take that occasional road trip on our extensive North-South Expressway).

Then there's the double-tracking project, which is half-way through its completion. No doubt, this project has had its fair share of criticisms and one wonders if it is the most efficient use of capital. Still, billions have already been spent. Do we ignore this project and blast ahead with another mega project like the high-speed train? Or do we first complete the double tracking and ensure that is it used in the most efficient way?

One hopes that KTM will manage to get the most out of the double-tracking system once it is fully completed. If planned well, we could have a very good train system running, minus the congestion problems that would have been eradicated by the double tracking.

Signficantly also, it is hoped that the remaining portions of double tracking will be contracted out to the most suitable party or parties who will do a good job in completing the project, without cost overruns and delays. And let's not forget the other cheap way of enhancing long-distance travel by turning Subang Airport into a functioning city airport, by letting jet aircraft fly there.