Singapore, Malaysia aiming for RTS Link to start services before Hari Raya Puasa: Jeffrey Siow

The Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System Link (RTS Link) is targeted to begin passenger service before Hari Raya next year, said the Republic's Minister for Transport Jeffrey Siow.

Hari Raya Puasa is expected to take place around March 10 next year.

Siow's comment, posted on his Facebook on Friday (Oct 2) evening, comes after RTS Operations (RTSO) had earlier announced that system tests and trial runs are expected to take up to Dec 31 this year .

RTSO also said in its earlier announcement that it expects passenger service to commence in February 2027.

This, it said, takes into account the expected duration of the remaining works, as well as the time required for third-party safety certification and approvals from both grantors.

The project had previously been targeted to begin passenger service in early 2027 .

In his post, Siow noted that Singaporeans and Malaysians have been looking forward to the completion of the landmark bilateral project.

He also noted that when operations begin, people from both sides of the Causeway will be brought closer together.

"The teams have been working hard on the project. The plan was for safety certification and licensing to have been completed before the end of this year, but it was not to be," Siow said.

He added that members of the project team from the Land Transport Authority (LTA) have worked hard to make sure that Woodlands North station is ready for the start of cross-border train services.

In a joint statement issued by LTA and the Malaysia Ministry of Transport on Friday, the two grantors said that infrastructure works in both Singapore and Malaysia are "substantially complete" and remain on track to support passenger service upon the satisfactory completion of the remaining testing and commissioning activities.

Once passenger service begins, the 4km shuttle from Woodlands North station to Bukit Chagar station in Johor Bahru will operate at a maximum speed of 80kmh and can accommodate up to 10,000 passengers per hour in each direction.

新加坡交通部长萧敬腾表示，柔佛新山-新加坡快速交通系统连接线（RTS Link）计划于明年开斋节前开始载客服务。

预计明年的开斋节将在3月10日左右举行。

Siow 于周五（10 月 2 日）晚间在其 Facebook 上发表了上述评论。此前，RTS Operations (RTSO) 宣布，系统测试和试运行预计将持续到今年 12 月 31 日。

RTSO 在其早前的公告中还表示，预计客运服务将于 2027 年 2 月开始。

声明称，这考虑到了剩余工程的预期工期，以及第三方安全认证和双方拨款方批准所需的时间。

该项目此前计划于 2027 年初开始客运服务。

Siow 在帖子中指出，新加坡人和马来西亚人一直期待着这一具有里程碑意义的双边项目的完成。

他还指出，工程开始后，堤道两岸的人们将会更加紧密地联系在一起。

“团队一直在努力推进这个项目。原计划是在今年年底前完成安全认证和许可，但未能如愿，”萧先生说。

他还补充说，陆路交通管理局 (LTA) 项目团队的成员们已经努力工作，确保兀兰北站为跨境列车服务的开通做好准备。

新加坡陆路交通管理局和马来西亚交通部周五发表联合声明称，新加坡和马来西亚的基础设施工程“基本完工”，并将继续按计划进行，待剩余的测试和调试工作顺利完成后，即可为乘客服务提供支持。

一旦客运服务开始，从兀兰北站到新山武吉查卡站的 4 公里穿梭巴士最高时速为 80 公里/小时，每小时每个方向最多可容纳 10,000 名乘客。