Singapore and Malaysia are attempting the impossible: They are going to complete building the cross-territory Singapore-Kuala Lumpur High Speed Rail by 2026.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in Putrajaya on Tuesday, July 19.

This marks the start of more detailed planning and the eventual construction of the rail link in the future.

PM Lee said that the 2026 target is "a very ambitious timetable". This is so as MRT lines in Singapore typically take 12 to 15 years from inception to service, whereas the HSR is much bigger in scale.

Because, on a side note, an MOU is still not an agreement:

Anyways, here are some figures everyone can keep tabs on:

2018: Construction of the High Speed Rail line may begin in two years' time

2026: Targeted year of completion. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong called the 2026 target "a very ambitious timetable".

8 stations: The line will consist of eight stations, seven of which will be in Malaysia. The Singapore station will be located at Jurong East, where the 40-year-old Jurong Country Club is expected to hand over the land by November 2016.

300km/h: Maximum speed of the trains.

350km track: 335km of the track will be set in Malaysia, with the remaining 15km in Singapore.

90 minutes: Time taken to get from Singapore to KL. Also the time taken to get from Pasir Ris to Jurong East, where Singapore's terminal station is located.

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