Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed confirmed today (31) that the construction of the Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link between Johor Bahru and Singapore will resume without further delay and that the project will be built with a 36 per cent cost cut.
He said: “The cost of the project has been reduced by 36 per cent from RM4.93 billion to RM3.16 billion.”
The RTS Link project was initiated to reduce the intense cross-border congestion on the Johor Causeway and link Singapore to the Malaysia’s Southern Economic Corridor Iskandar Malaysia. The deal was originally drawn up between the Singapore Government and the the Barisan Nasional administration, which was toppled in the 2018 Malaysian General Election.
Earlier this month, Dr Mahathir confirmed that Putrajaya will proceed with the RTS Link as the Government launched the National Transport Policy in Kuala Lumpur on 17 Oct. Malaysia’s Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng also said the Government “intends to proceed” with the project as he tabled Budget 2020.