JOHOR BAHRU: Rail system works on the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link project is about 50 per cent complete, the transport operator said in an update on Wednesday (Feb 16).
These works include track installation, signalling, and power supply. Track installation, which started in September last year from the Wadi Hana Depot in Johor Bahru, is set to be completed and reach Woodlands North station in July.
The updates were given by RTS Operations (RTSO) project director Zahrin Abdul Gani on Wednesday. RTSO is a joint venture company formed by transport operators Prasarana Malaysia and Singapore’s SMRT Corporation.
The RTS Link, which will stretch 4km from Singapore’s Woodlands North station to Johor’s Bukit Chagar station, is expected to begin service by the end of 2026.
It aims to ease traffic congestion on the Causeway – one of the world’s busiest border crossings – by ferrying up to 10,000 passengers an hour each way.
Mr Zahrin said that the “system implementation phase” of the project is progressing well.
“In the coming months, our key focus will be on critical systems including trackwork, rolling stock (the trains), traction power and the seamless integration of signalling and control systems,” he added.
Asked by the media about the possible fares, RTSO CEO Dr Ahmad Marzuki Ariffin said that there is “no information to disclose as of yet”, and that fares will be announced closer to the start date.
In January last year, then-prime minister Lee Hsien Loong and his Malaysian counterpart Anwar Ibrahim marked the completion of a 17.1m-long structure linking the marine viaducts of both countries.
On the Singapore side, work to connect the RTS Link to the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) will begin in 2025, Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA), Malaysia’s Mass Rapid Transit Corporation and RTSO said in a joint statement last November.