Study being done on undersea tunnel to link JB and Singapore

JOHOR BARU: A study is being done on the feasibility of constructing an undersea tunnel to link Singapore and Malaysia.

Iskandar Regional Development Authority chief executive officer Ismail Ibrahim said the tunnel was likely to be about 1km long, slightly shorter than the Causeway.

“By going underwater, there is no need to tear down existing structures above the sea and there will be less disruption to movement between Johor Baru and Singapore,” he told The Star.

The Causeway, which is about 1.056km long, was completed in 1923 and links the city here to Woodlands on the other side of the Straits of Johor. Between 80,000 and 100,000 vehicles use it daily.

Johor and the republic are also connected via the Second Link, a dual three-lane carriageway linking Tanjung Kupang to Tuas in Singapore. The bridge is about 1.9km long.

Ismail said detailed engineering study on the tunnel would be conducted by consultants appointed by both governments.

He said both Malaysia and Singapore had yet to determine the cost of the tunnel, which would not be parallel to the Causeway.