High costs of central location not tenable

MR AMIT Nagpal has suggested locating the Singapore end of the high-speed rail link from Malaysia in the city centre ("Central site best for S'pore end of high-speed rail"; Tuesday).

Transport nodes facilitating inbound visitors to Singapore are currently located in the north (Woodlands Checkpoint), east (Changi Airport), south (Marina Bay Cruise Centre) and west (Tuas Checkpoint).

With the exception of the western and southern nodes, the other nodes are well utilised and have provided the respective locales with ample economic activities.

Having the high-speed rail terminal located in the west dovetails with the Government's plans to ramp up the region's liveability and to ensure the population is well spread out across the island.

Mr Nagpal's suggestion to tackle cost concerns of locating the terminal by tapping existing developments, such as Raffles Place and Marina Bay MRT stations, is not likely to be viable.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority already has firm plans for the central areas cited, and the possible costs of such a central location are likely to be even higher than if the terminal were located in the west.

I am all for the idea of having the terminal located in a convenient region. But, for me, to fund the unnecessary costs as a taxpayer is not acceptable.

Ewe Seow Chie (Ms)

This article was first published on Feb 21, 2015.
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