The authorities from Singapore and Malaysia are jointly seeking concepts and ideas for a ticketing and fare collection system to be used on the future Singapore-Kuala Lumpur (KL) High-Speed Rail (HSR). The Land Transport Authority (LTA) and MyHSR Corporation, the agency responsible for Malaysia's share of the project, announced on Tuesday (19^th September) that they are inviting companies with the relevant expertise to share the latest on ticketing technology and developments.

Discussions will be held in Kuala Lumpur on 9^th and 10^th October, the two parties said in a joint statement. The LTA and MyHSR said they 'envisage a passenger-friendly ticketing system that incorporates the latest ticketing technology while ensuring seamless travel throughout the HSR ecosystem'. The system should take into consideration the cross-border elements of the project, as well as the separate operators for its international and domestic services, they said.

The 350km Singapore-KL HSR, which will cut travel time between the two cities to 90 minutes, is targeted to be operational by end-2026. The LTA and MyHSR said that input from next month's discussions will be taken into consideration when the agencies structure the ticketing and fare collection system. This will include how the assets company and the operating companies are involved in the ticketing process. The former is responsible for designing, building, financing and maintaining all rolling stock and all rail assets.

Under the plans, there will be two operating companies - an international operator, which will run an express service between the terminal stations in Jurong East and Bandar Malaysia in KL, along with a shorter shuttle service between Singapore and Iskandar Puteri in Johor. Malaysia will also call a tender for a domestic operator to run a separate service, which will call at five other stations between Jurong East and Bandar Malaysia, namely Putrajaya, Seremban, Ayer Keroh, Muar and Batu Pahat. Companies can visit the MyHSR Corp website or the LTA website for more details of next month's discussions.