RTS Link: Singapore and Malaysia simulate cross-border emergency ahead of February launch
RTS Link Malaysia-Singapore Cross-Border Joint Exercise: Field Training Exercise (FTX)
SINGAPORE/MALAYSIA: Singapore and Malaysia have carried out a joint field training exercise at the Johor Bahru–Singapore RTS Link to test how agencies from both countries would coordinate during an emergency, as preparations continue for the line’s opening in February 2027.
The RTS Link Malaysia-Singapore Cross-Border Joint Exercise, held on October 27, 2026, simulated an emergency scenario requiring a coordinated response across the border, including joint firefighting operations, medical triage and the evacuation of casualties.
Singapore was represented by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA), the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF). On the Malaysian side were the Royal Malaysia Police, the Malaysian Border Control and Protection Agency, the Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia, Malaysia’s Ministry of Health and the Malaysian Armed Forces.
The exercise concluded with a joint closing ceremony on Oct 28 at the RTS Wadi Hana Depot in Johor Bahru, co-officiated by Malaysian Home Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and Singapore’s Second Minister for Foreign Affairs and Second Minister for Home Affairs Sim Ann.
ICA said the exercise reflected the close cooperation between the two countries in ensuring safe, secure, and reliable cross-border travel once RTS Link services begin, and that it would keep working with counterparts and stakeholders to strengthen preparedness at the border.
Why it matters
The RTS Link will carry thousands of passengers in each direction on a five-minute journey between Bukit Chagar in Johor Bahru and Woodlands North in Singapore, with co-located customs, immigration, and quarantine facilities at both ends. A rail line that crosses an international border poses an unusual emergency planning challenge, because responders from two countries may need to work across jurisdictions at the same incident.
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The exercise is one of several readiness steps taken in recent weeks, alongside Malaysian police visits to the ICQ complex and the training of 400 border officers for deployment at the line.