KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will discuss with Singapore to allow the KTMB Shuttle Tebrau train service to continue even after the completion of the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link project, Parliament was told.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke said that under the previous bilateral agreement between the two countries, one of the agreed-upon conditions is to cease the operation of the KTMB Shuttle Tebrau service six months after the completion of the RTS Link project.
"However, I understand YB Pulai's concern and I personally feel that it is not wrong if we have more connectivity between the two countries.
"My ministry will make an effort to negotiate this matter with Singapore to ensure this service can be retained even after the completion of the RTS Link project," he said.
Loke said this in reply to a supplementary question from Suhaizan Kaiat (PH-Pulai) during the Minister's Question Time on Thursday (Oct 26).
Suhaizan had asked the Transport Ministry whether the KTMB Shuttle Tebrau train service would still be in operation after the RTS Link project was completed in 2027.
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The RTS Link was a four-kilometre shuttle service between Singapore at Woodlands North station and Malaysia at Bukit Chagar station.
With a capacity of 10,000 passengers per hour each way, the RTS Link was set to provide easy and comfortable transportation between Johor Bahru and Singapore in just five minutes.
To the initial question, Loke said that the number of passengers on the KTMB Shuttle Tebrau service between JB Sentral and Woodlands, Singapore had been restored and had even recorded a substantial increase.
"This year, the average daily passenger count is 8,635 individuals, recording a 7% increase compared to the pre-Covid-19 passenger record, which was 8,077 individuals per day in 2019," he explained.
The government, he added, had also engaged in discussions with the Singaporean authorities through the Malaysia-Singapore Joint Ministerial Committee for Iskandar Malaysia (JMCIM) platform to enhance the capacity of the KTMB Shuttle Tebrau service.
"This includes increasing the frequency of train operations from 31 trips to 36 trips and raising the number of train carriages per operation from four carriages to eight carriages.
"These improvements will offer an increased passenger capacity of up to 13,760 individuals per day," Loke said.
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"At the moment, KTMB and the Ministry of Transport are still awaiting feedback from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) of Singapore," he said.
The KTMB Shuttle Tebrau train service to Woodlands resumed on June 19 last year after operations were halted for more than two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Loke said that various measures had been implemented to increase the coaches and trips via the service but it also depended on the agreement from Singapore's side.
However, to implement this, it doesn't rely on just one party.
"On our side, especially with the operator, KTMB, we are ready with a sufficient number of coaches to increase the frequency and capacity.
'But this also depends on the approval of Singapore, which receives passengers.
"They have their own constraints in relation to immigration services at Woodlands, Singapore. That's why these discussions may take some time - to negotiate and secure these additions," he said.
On the congestion at the Johor Causeway, he said that the government had paid significant attention to it including by the Special Committee on Congestion at the Johor Causeway chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.
These included using the immigration counters optimally and increasing more motorcycle lanes, he said.
"We believe that the Johor Causeway congestion issue is not easy to resolve. In the long term, we hope that when we complete the RTS link project, it will help alleviate some of the congestion at the Johor Causeway.
"We are also exploring various other ways to enhance connectivity. For example, there is a proposal to introduce ferry services between Malaysia and Singapore, particularly from Johor Bahru to Singapore," noted Loke.
