JOHOR BARU: Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd’s (KTMB) highly popular Tebrau shuttle will resume service between here and Singapore on June 19, says Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.
The service, which connects Johor Baru Sentral and Woodlands, was suspended on March 24, 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“KTMB is now prepared to resume its operations for the Shuttle Tebrau, with ticket sales starting from 3am on June 13 for train services between June 19 and July 18,” he added.
There will be 31 trips daily and the train will ferry 320 passengers per trip every 30 minutes for RM5 per person for a one-way trip from Johor, and S$5 from the Singapore side.
Children below four get to travel for free.
“Out of the 31 trips, 18 are services from Johor Baru Sentral to Woodlands, while the remaining 13 are from Woodlands to Johor Baru,” he said after inspecting the site of the ongoing Johor Baru-Singapore Rapid Transit System Link (RTS Link) project at Bukit Chagar, which has recorded a 17% completion.
Dr Wee said the project was on track to be completed by December 2026, and start operating by January 2027 as scheduled, with the Transport Ministry constantly monitoring the progress.
Site inspection: Dr Wee (second from right) talking to RTS Link project stakeholders in Bukit Chagar, Johor Baru.
“I am satisfied with the current progress. There are no issues in terms of technical matters, but we need to relocate the two pipelines belonging to Singapore’s Public Utilities Board.
“An agreement in terms of policy has been reached with Singapore for the relocation of the 900mm and 1,600mm pipes, and I will present it to the Cabinet soon,” he said, adding that the ministry had also instructed Mass Rapid Transit Corporation (MRT Corp) to monitor the contractors involved in the project to ensure they were on time.
“MRT Corp is working closely with the Human Resources Ministry to ensure enough workforce for the project, and this is among the challenges we have to face to avoid delays,” Dr Wee said, adding that the ministry was also looking into providing alternative routes to prevent traffic congestion around the area after completion of the project.This includes providing entry and exit channels between the RTS Link and roads such as Jalan Tebrau, Jalan Lingkaran Dalam and the Eastern Dispersal Link (EDL).
“We need to come up with a comprehensive plan to tackle congestion before the RTS Link is up and running,” said Dr Wee, who is also MCA president.
On politics, he said MCA would take on a more holistic approach in reaching out to voters in the upcoming general election.
Instead of focusing only on specific seats, MCA would adopt a different strategy where all its divisions, especially those in urban areas, would pool together resources to reach out to all voters.
“For parliamentary seats in urban areas, there may be a challenge in reaching out to voters and, as such, we need to change our strategy.
“This is because many residents may have moved to another place, without changing the address on their MyKad.
“Taking this into consideration, we need to have a holistic approach, including having all MCA divisions under the southern Johor region to work together instead of having the divisions focusing solely on their respective localities,” he said at a press conference after officiating the Johor Baru MCA division annual general assembly in Taman Sentosa here.
He noted that the situation might not be the same for rural areas, where a majority of the residents would typically remain at their voting districts.
“We can no longer look from a seat-by-seat perspective but, rather, synergise the divisions to get the best outcome,” he said.
At the last Johor state election, MCA won four of the 15 seats it contested in.
On another matter, Dr Wee revealed that MCA had suggested that the state assembly propose Johor MCA deputy chairman Datuk Lim Pay Hen to be nominated as a senator.
“We have made the proposal to the state assembly, and we await their decision in the next state assembly seating,” he said.
