JOHOR BAHRU: The Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link project is now about 50% complete, with key rail system works progressing as planned. RTS Operations (RTSO) project director Zahrin Abdul Gani confirmed on Wednesday, Feb 26, that track installation, signalling, and power supply systems are taking shape.
RTSO is a joint venture between Prasarana Malaysia and Singapore’s SMRT Corporation.
The track installation, which began in September last year at the Wadi Hana Depot in Johor Bahru, is expected to reach Singapore’s Woodlands North station by July, Channel News Asia (CNA) reported.
The RTS Link, which will connect Woodlands North to Bukit Chagar in Johor over a 4-kilometre stretch, is on track to begin service by the end of 2026. It is designed to reduce congestion at the Causeway by carrying up to 10,000 passengers per hour in each direction.
Mr Gani said the “system implementation phase” is progressing well, with the focus now on trackwork, trains, traction power, and the integration of signalling and control systems.
According to CNA, workers have been installing tracks and other rail systems along the elevated viaduct leading to Bukit Chagar Station, with traffic continuing below. It is covered with a temporary brown roof, and the final canopy will be installed later.
Beside the station, the new Immigration, Customs, and Quarantine (ICQ) facility is also under construction. Further along the track towards Wadi Hana Depot was a grey, sheltered security checkpoint for trains, where checks will take place after passengers disembark.
Built on a 14-acre plot of land, the Wadi Hana Depot, located over a kilometre north of Bukit Chagar and the only maintenance facility for the RTS Link, will have seven parallel tracks for train servicing and repairs. Chinese company CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive is supplying the trains.
While the depot structure is complete, with bare workshop spaces on the first floor, tracks inside the depot are 65% finished.
Meanwhile, system installation at the depot, stations, viaducts, and tunnels will proceed in phases from March, covering power, signalling, and communication systems. Testing is set to begin in 2026, ahead of passenger service.
In the city-state, work to link the RTS to the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) will start this year, according to a joint statement in November last year by the Land Transport Authority (LTA), Malaysia’s Mass Rapid Transit Corporation, and RTSO.
For ticket prices, RTSO CEO Dr Ahmad Marzuki Ariffin said fare details have not been finalised yet and will be announced closer to the service launch. /TISG
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