There are lots of eager anticipation for the construction of the HSR.
But in reality, how soon can they actually build one?
Just take a look at some recent projects of similar size and complication.
1. The going to open Marina Coastal Expressway - with roads and a 450 metre long underwater tunnel took 5 years to complete and this is only involved one party.
There are no lengthy land clearance and land acquisition involved.
2. The Second Link - with roads and a bridge across the Straits of Johor - took 5 years, from design to construction, to complete. This involved the agreement of 2 governments and involved many issues to be agreed upon.
The HSR which crosses the Straits of Johor, doesn't matter near to Causeway or 2nd Link, has to be either a bridge or a tunnel on the seabed.
If its a bridge, it'll be as long as the 2nd Link and if its a tunnel, it'll be more than double the length of the Marina Coastal Expressway tunnel.
So with the reference of the above mention projects, I would imagine it will easily take at least 5 years to design and build this crossing but till today, not a single construction concept had emerge.
So add another 1 year for mutual agreements (on CIQ matters, ownership, etc) to finalized and another year for the design concept to ding dong between the 2 countries so it'll not be ready at least 6 -7 years from now.
Ditto for the RTS if ever they decided to build one!