Malaysia will work with Tangshan Railway Vehicle Compang, which rolled out the China-made bullet trains late last month, to carry out three rail projects estimated to cost RM1 billion in the country.
According to a report in Nanyang Siang Pau today, the projects are a track for magnetic levitation (maglev) trains between George Town and Butterworth and two high-speed rail links -- between Kuala Lumpur and Johor Baru and between Kuala Lumpur and Kuantan -- that allow trains to reach 350km per hour.
The report said Tangshan Raiway Vehicle Company, a unit of China CNR Corporation Ltd, has been invited by MRailways International Sdn Bhd, to explore rail opportunities in Malaysia.
Sources said MRails has received a letter of authorisation from Tangshan Railway Vehicle last month for the proposed maglev rail project in Penang on a joint-venture basis.
Apart from the George Town-Butterworth maglev rail project, Tangshan Railway Vehicle also intends to undertake the Kuala Lumpur-Johor Baru and Kuala Lumpur-Kuantan high-speed rail projects.
The two high-speed rail links being planned are similar to the 1,068km Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed railway that went into service last month.
Dubbed the bullet trains of China, the trains operating the Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed railway can reach 350km per hour.
The three projects, if implemented, can be completed in three to five years.
