JB-SG RTS On Track to Start Operations in end-2026; Passengers Can Transfer From TEL

Tired of the long commute from Singapore to Malaysia and vice versa? Wishing that the government did something to shorten the commute? Remembering that there was a supposed bridge to be built, but it didn’t come to fruition?

Well, good news; the bridge is on its way to completion after much delay (again).

Bridge By End 2026

The Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) is halfway through construction on the Singapore side and is on schedule to open by the end of 2026

The update came from a press conference attended by Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke and Singapore’s counterpart Minister S. Iswaran.

According to Mr Iswaran, the bridge is 45% completed, and we can expect it to be “ready and on time for commencing passenger services” by the end of 2026.

Mr Loke added that the construction is 36% completed on Malaysia’s end.

The press conference was held in tandem with Thursday’s (11 May) day-long trip to Malaysia by Mr Iswaran, where both ministers met and discussed ways to improve transportation links on land and at sea. The meeting also affirmed their commitment to advancing both nations’ bilateral relations.

New Possible Mode Of Transport

The cross-border train service will be managed by RTS Operations, a joint venture established by Malaysian public transportation company Prasarana and Singapore rail operator SMRT.

Passengers would be able to travel from Bukit Chagar in Johor Bahru to Woodlands North in Singapore, or vice versa, in around five minutes once the 4km RTS Link becomes operational.

There will be a shuttle service expected to service up to 10,000 passengers per hour in each direction. This is to ease congestion on the Causeway, where before Covid-19, nearly 300,000 people were crossing it daily.

Currently, the Woodlands and Tuas checkpoints’ peak-hour traffic volumes have reached pre-pandemic levels.

On Singapore’s side, passengers won’t have to leave the station to switch from the RTS Link to the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL), thanks to an underground link currently being built.

The customs, immigration and quarantine facilities of both Singapore and Malaysia will be co-located within the same facility at Woodlands North, as would be the case at Bukit Chagar station.

This means that, unlike the existing procedure for land border crossings, passengers will only need to pass through immigration control once, at their point of departure.

The Wadi Hana Depot, which is a little more than a kilometre north of JB Sentral, will help with routine rail link maintenance tasks, including rolling stock inspections and cleaning.

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Previous Delays

Did you know that the RTS was actually conceptualised back in 2010? The RTS Link project’s initial completion date goal was set for 2018 but was deemed unachievable and pushed to the end of 2024.

The completion date was further delayed as Malaysia requested a halt in construction in 2019 to reassess its scope, structure and costs.

The deadline was again pushed back four times before finalising and resuming construction in 2020, but only after many significant revisions, including the usage of an independent Light Rail Transit (LRT) system rather than the same trains and infrastructure as the TEL.

Hopefully, this time, they actually built it on time.