JB-Singapore rail link agreement to be inked on July 30

[KUALA LUMPUR] Malaysia and Singapore will ink agreements to finalise the much delayed Johor Baru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link project on July 30, Malaysian Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong said on Tuesday.

The signing ceremony will be held at the Causeway and witnessed by the prime ministers of both countries.

The RTS Link will be the second rail network between the two countries after the Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) Tebrau Shuttle Service.

It will connect Woodlands North station on Singapore's Thomson-East Coast MRT line to Bukit Chagar, a planned elevated terminal in Johor Baru.

The KTM shuttle train service will cease operating within six months after the RTS becomes operational.

Construction work for the RTS is slated to commence in January next year, said Mr Wee, and the rail link is expected to begin operations at end-2026.

The project is estimated to cost around RM3.70 billion (S$1.20 billion).

In May, Malaysia announced that the bilateral agreement deadline for the RTS Link was extended by three months to July 31 because of the coronavirus and movement control curbs.

The Singapore government had said then that it was a final extension. The legally binding agreement to build the RTS Link was signed in January 2018.

THE STRAITS TIMES