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Pua: Free flights to Singapore cheaper than annual interest for HSR
Published: Dec 21, 2023 4:02 PM Updated: 4:30 PM
DAP veteran Tony Pua has posited that it could be cheaper to provide Malaysians free flights to Singapore than paying interest on financing for the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) project.
He based his calculations on data released by flight data company OAG, which found that flights from KLIA to Changi route was the busiest international route for 2023, at 4.9 million seats.
Assuming each seat costs RM400, Pua said, it would add up to RM2 billion per year.
Comparatively, he stated that the HSR project would cost RM80 billion if the government were to fund the project.
“At an interest rate of five percent, the HSR project will cost the government RM4 billion in interest alone every year.
‘Whether the demand (for HSR ridership) will even exceed the operational costs is another matter altogether.
“So, the simple conclusion is, at RM4 billion interest cost for HSR, the government might as well just pay for all flights between KL and Singapore and still save RM2 billion,” he said.
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The current administration has said it was open to reviving the project but the government would not pay for it.
https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/690823?utm_source=dlvr.it
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weehingthong 