JB-S'pore RTS agreement signed

SINGAPORE: Malaysia and the island nation today signed a bilateral agreement for the Johor Baru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link.
The cross-border service is slated to start running by end-2024 and will connect Johor's Bukit Chagar and Singapore's Woodlands North, where it will join the upcoming Thomson-East Coast Line.
"The RTS Link will boost connectivity, strengthen economic and business links," the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) and Singapore's Land Transport Authority said in a joint statement.
"The RTS will be able to carry up to 10,000 passengers in each direction every hour, an additional capacity of 60,000 users crossing the causeway during peak hours.
"It is also much higher than the average 300 passengers per hour in each direction that KTMB currently ferries."
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak said KTMB operates 26 daily trips and it could be raised until the RTS becomes operational.
"I appreciate the decision by Singapore to allow the KTM shuttle service to be increased. There's a proposal for it to go up to 31 in the near future," he said at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during the 8th Singapore-Malaysia Leaders' Retreat.
SPAD said the RTS will have Customs, Immigration and Quarantine facilities in both the Bukit Chagar and Woodlands North stations.
"Passengers travelling in either direction will clear both Malaysia and Singapore authorities at the point of departure, and need not go through immigration clearance again at the point of arrival," SPAD said. – Bernama