By slashing travel time between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur to just one and a half hours, the high-speed rail will draw the people and economies of both sides closer, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday. Singaporeans can zip up to Kuala Lumpur, watch a show or do business, work on their laptops on the way back and be home for dinner, he said. "It will not seem like going overseas at all."

"We can think of Singapore-KL in the same way that people think of London-Paris, Taipei-Kaohsiung and Tokyo-Osaka," he added, citing major cities connected by fast rail. When two cities are closely linked, both benefit, he said, "There's more competition but there's more business to be done. It means vitality, it means a wide variety of options, it means a more rapid pace of growth." In short, the rail link will make it 'very easy to get in touch to do business, to make friends, to be one integrated economy'.

At a joint press conference in Putrajaya, Mr. Lee and his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak both acknowledged that the targeted timeframe to have the trains up and running by 2026 is 'very tight'. But the two leaders said they were committed to working closely together to ensure it will be met. PM Lee added in a Facebook post last night, "Good execution will be crucial. We need to work closely together on many joint decisions and implementation issues. PM Najib and I will give full attention to this, because we want this major project to be done right." Both men also highlighted the spin-offs for regions along the line.

The express service from Jurong East in Singapore to Bandar Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur will pass through six other stations in Malaysia, such as Muar and Batu Pahat, without stopping. But separate services will connect these stations to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. In Singapore, the terminus will be part of the Jurong Lake District, slated to be Singapore's second Central Business District.