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The Johor Bahru–Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link is an international cross-border rapid transit system that will connect Johor Bahru, Malaysia and Woodlands, Singapore, crossing the Strait of Johor. It will consist of two stations, with the Malaysian terminus at Bukit Chagar station and the Singaporean terminus at Woodlands North station, which also interchanges with Singapore's Thomson–East Coast MRT line.
Both stations will consist of co-located customs, immigration and quarantine facilities of both countries. When built, the RTS Link will be the second rail link between the two countries after the KTM Intercity's Shuttle Tebrau, between JB Sentral and Woodlands Train Checkpoint. However, the RTS Link is expected to replace this shuttle once it is completed.
A joint operating company between Singapore's SMRT Corporation and Malaysia's Prasarana will be the operator of the link. Construction started on the Malaysian section on 22 November 2020 and on the Singaporean section on 22 January 2021.
Background
Planning and development
The idea of a Mass Rapid Transit system between Northern Singapore and Johor Bahru was first suggested in 1991 when Singapore's communications minister Mah Bow Tan said that the Woodlands Extension, now part of the North South line, would be designed to accommodate such an extension. The idea was endorsed and agreed to in principle by both countries.
The rapid transit system was then revisited two decades later and proposed during the Singapore-Malaysia Leaders' Retreat on 24 May 2010. The RTS would link Tanjung Puteri, Johor Bahru and Woodlands, Singapore, aiming to ease traffic congestion on the Johor–Singapore Causeway and enhance connectivity between the two countries. It was targeted to be operational by 2018.
Concrete steps
In June 2011, Singapore proposed to Malaysia that the proposed cross border rail link be connected to the northernmost station of the Thomson-East Coast line, Woodlands North. A tender was called in November 2011 to conduct design and engineering study on the RTS link, which aimed to determine the technical parameters and options for the alignment and proposals for the system. A consortium of Aecom Perunding, Aecom Singapore and SA Architects subsequently won the tender. The first part of a preliminary engineering study was completed in March 2014.
In September 2014, the Johor Public Works, Rural and Regional Development Committee selected Bukit Chagar as its terminus after a public vote, over Tanjung Puteri, JB Sentral 1 and JB Sentral 2. It also confirmed that the terminus would have operate its own customs and immigration clearance facilities, separate from the existing facilities at Sultan Iskandar Building. Its chairman Hasni Mohammad stated that Singapore had given no indication of the final alignment of the link from a total of three options. This drew a response from Singapore's Ministry of Transport which replied that they were unable to finalise the alignment of the crossing as there was no confirmation of the location of Malaysia's terminus.