Bid for high-speed rail line between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore includes facial recognition tech
A Japanese bid to provide a high-speed rail line between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore includes facial recognition technology to enable fast immigration processing, the New Straits Times reports.
The KL-Singapore high speed rail (HSR) project is expected to cut the travel time for the 350 km journey between the cities from four or five hours to roughly 90 minutes.
“If commuters need to take a long time in immigration, then a high-speed rail will not be efficient and beneficial for the commuters,” said Japan’s Ambassador to Malaysia, Dr. Makio Miyagawa.
The full contract is expected to be worth RM50-60 billion (US$12.5-15 billion). Bids are also expected from China, South Korea, and France, according to the Times.
Facial recognition has been implemented at airports, including in Switzerland and the United States, to speed up immigration and traveler processing.
Singaporean consumers have shown a high level of comfort with biometrics for banking, and its government recently confirmed it is planning to deploy facial recognition in public spaces as part of its “Lamppost-as-a-Platform” pilot project.
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