I know what’s going through your mind now: Singapore has no Transport Minister now, so who’s going to handle this? Isn’t this project being postponed a few million times since 1819? Didn’t you read somewhere that the line is ready since 2018?
Well, for a start, the MRT line between the two countries was actually suggested and agreed on back in 1991, when some of you weren’t even born yet.
However, that was just agreed on in principle; nothing formal was signed.
It only got a tad more serious in 2010 during the Singapore-Malaysia Leaders’ Retreat, when a date was proposed: both countries agree to link Tanjung Puteri, Johor Bahru and Singapore through the line, with its aim to ease traffic congestion on the Johor–Singapore Causeway and enhance connectivity between the two countries.
The official name is the Johor Bahru–Singapore Rapid Transit System, and they targeted it to be operational by 2018.
But.
With the construction so massive and with it having to involve many bilateral agreements, meetings after meeting led to just a few concrete steps.
In early 2018, the year that we were supposed to be able to head to JB like how we head to Yishun, an agreement was signed on the project, and a date for the construction of the line is set: 2019.
So yes, no more talks. Let’s build the damn thing!
Then, the Malaysian General Election happened, and it’s unknown whether the project will still take place.
The new Government in Malaysia didn’t upright reject the construction; instead, they asked for more time to decide whether to go on with the project. In the later part of 2019, we all heaved a large sigh of relief when Malaysia’s then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad announced that the project will go ahead with a lower budget.
But if you look at the dates carefully, you’d know what happened next.
Malaysia changed its PM, and COVID-19 hit.
The construction of the project would be postponed, and expected to start from 31 July 2020 instead.
We’re now less than three weeks from the deadline, and guess what?
The construction date is changing again.
Johor Head: MRT Line Between JB & S’pore to Start Work from Nov This Year Instead of 31 July
According to reports, the head of Johor, Hasni Mohammad, said that the project is expected to start in November instead of 31 July, and Malaysia and Singapore will be signing the agreement on the project at the end of the month.
He said, “The long-awaited project will boost Johor’s economy, as it will create an economic spillover especially in Iskandar Malaysia.”
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So what did Singapore say?
Well, to which I shall ask you back: Who’s the Minister of Transport now?
However, according to CNA, the Ministry of Transport has responded, saying that they’ve been in “intensive discussions” with Malaysia, adding, “Like Malaysia, we are optimistic that the discussions on the outstanding matters can be concluded by the Jul 31 deadline.”
The Malaysia transport minister echoed the view, saying that they will wait for Singapore’s new Cabinet to form, saying, “If we are able to complete the negotiations next week, the time would have come for us to seal the agreement. We must do all this before the Jul 31 deadline.”
Could Have Started on 31 July 2020
Just last week, Senior Minister Datuk Seri Azmin Ali said Malaysia was confident of meeting Singapore’s 31 July deadline for the RTS project. Before Khaw Boon Wan announced his retirement, he had said that discussions with Malaysia on the construction were still ongoing, with the final deadline on 31 July.
It’s, however, unknown if the line would still be ready by 2024 as predicted.
But then again, we’ve been waiting for it since we were babies, so waiting for a few thousand more years isn’t going to make any difference.
Proposed Line
If you can wait out for a few thousand years, then this would interest you.
According to the agreement, the terminus for Singapore would be at Woodlands North MRT Station, a station in the Thomson-East Coast Line. After you’re there with your grandkids, your next stop would be Bukit Chagar RTS station, which is near Johor Bahru Sentral.
Simply put, it’s like taking a train from Woodlands to Yishun lah—the only difference is that you don’t feel anything when you reach Yishun, but you feel three times richer when you’re at Bukit Chagar RTS Station.
This is how the proposed route network looks like:
Don’t understand it?
Well, me too. Network in 2201 is different from network in 2020.
You just need to know that the stations will have its own customs, immigration and quarantine facilities.
And since you’re still here waiting for the line to be built, you might as well just watch our latest video whereby we simplify what TraceTogether is here:
Here’s a simplified summary of the South Korea martial law that even a 5-year-old would understand:
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