Dr M praises Japan’s Shinkansen bullet train system

(The Star) – Japan’s world renowned Shinkansen bullet train system has caught the eye of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, with the Prime Minister praising its precision and adaptability in different weather.

“At the JR Kyushu training facility yesterday, I tried out the Shinkansen (bullet train) driver’s simulator.

“It was very precise and able to simulate changes in weather (rain, snow) and day and night,” he said in a Facebook post on Wednesday (Aug 8), accompanied by a short video clip of the 93-year-old testing the bullet train’s simulator.

Dr Mahathir is currently on a four-day visit to Japan and is expected to return by Thursday (Aug 9).

American-born Patterson was quoted by Bernama as saying that countries with zero HSR working experience, such as Taiwan and India, had proven that they could achieve the same level of success as Japan in operating the system, despite initial scepticism.

A study by the Institute of Developing Economies (IDE) Japan showed that Malaysia could make US$1.589bil annually from the HSR project by 2030.

The Kuala Lumpur-Singapore HSR project is a 350km rail project aimed at connecting and reducing travel times between the two countries.

The HSR project, mooted during the then Barisan Nasional administration, is expected to start operations from 2026 onwards.