FEATURE
INGENIEUR
Climate Change
Vulnerability and Adaptation
for the Singapore-Malaysia
High Speed Rail System
By Sazrul Leena Binti Sa’adin, Malaysia Land Public Transport Commission,
Sakdirat Kaewunruen & David Jaroszweski, Birmingham Centre for Railway Research
and Education, The University of Birmingham
The Paris Agreement in late 2015 demonstrates global unity to set a goal for global warming
reduction. It implies that the climate change is unequivocal, and globally the atmosphere and ocean
are increasingly getting warmer, the amount of ice on the earth is decreasing over the oceans, and
the sea level has risen. According to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the total increase
in globally averaged combined land and surface temperatures between the periods of 1850-1900
and 2003 to 2012 was 0.78ºC. (0.72 to 0.85ºC). But should we prepare for such a relatively small
change? The importance is not the means of the warming but the considerable likelihood of climate
change that could trigger extreme natural hazards.
The risks, vulnerability of climate change associated with railway infrastructure in Malaysia and
Singapore have not been fully addressed in literature due to the difference in local environmental
parameters. On the other hand, the projected growth in Kuala Lumpur (>10 million people by 2020)
and Singapore (>6 million people) enormously accelerates business activities between the two
cities, including road, aviation, ports and rails. Thus, an effective, reliable and fast alternative like
High Speed Rail is one of the most-efficient and environmental-friendly infrastructure. The current
railway network in Malaysia, over the last decade, has been significantly affected by severe weather
conditions such as rainfall, lightning, wind and very high temperatures. This article studies the
climate change risks and presents adaptation strategies to climate change for the high speed rail
system between Malaysia and Singapore.
I
n recent years, there has been increasing
interest amongst policy makers across the globe
in building High Speed Rail, including in Malaysia.
In the creation of this new form of transportation,
Malaysia needs to ensure that the new HSR will
cope and adapt to climate change. In addition, the
complexities of climate change and predictions
of climate model outputs have introduced an
additional measure of uncertainty for railroad
operators1,2 . Extreme weather has affected
railway operations and safety, includ