RTS Link set to transform Johor-Singapore commute

 Congestion, high transport costs and limited frequency of the bus service are among the challenges faced by hundreds of thousands of Malaysians.

Hundreds of thousands of Malaysians cross the border to Singapore everyday. (Bernama pic)

JOHOR BAHRU:

While much of Malaysia is still asleep, Mohd Nor Izham’s alarm rings at 3am.

By 4am, the 32-year-old technician is already on his motorcycle, racing against the clock to beat the congestion at the Johor Causeway so he can report for his 7am shift at Changi Airport.

Mohd Nor Izham.

“If I leave a little late, I will definitely get stuck. Sometimes the journey takes an hour, sometimes two, depending on the traffic,” he told FMT.

Izham is one of hundreds of thousands of Johoreans who make the daily cross-border commute to Singapore for work.

Every day, between 350,000 and 500,000 travellers pass through the Causeway, one of the busiest land crossings in the world.

The gruelling routine also comes with a financial cost. Izham spends about S$5 (RM15) on tolls each day, with his monthly commuting expenses, including petrol, reaching around S$100 (RM315).

For 27-year-old Zamir Abdullah, who recently started working at a hospital in Singapore, the biggest hurdle comes before he even boards a bus.

Zamir Abdullah.

“When I get to the terminal, the queue is already long. Sometimes it takes almost an hour just to board a bus. The whole journey can take more than three hours,” said the youngest of seven siblings.

The daily struggle is shared by students too.

Rather than wait in long queues during peak hours, 18-year-old Hon Jiajie often chooses to walk across the Causeway instead.

The 20-minute walk has become part of life for the foundation student at the Singapore Institute of Management (SIM), who chose to continue living with his family in Johor instead of relocating to Singapore.

“When I want to go home, it is very congested. So I usually do not take the bus from the Singapore checkpoint to the Malaysia checkpoint. I would just walk back.

“My friends say they would not do what I do because it sounds very tiring,” he said.

A long-awaited solution

After years of planning their lives around traffic jams, packed buses and unpredictable journeys, many cross-border commuters see the Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link as more than just another transport project.

For Izham, it represents the possibility of reclaiming hours lost to congestion.

“I will definitely use it. It will be cheaper and I will not have to face congestion like now,” he said.

Hon also believes the rail link will make student life much easier.

Hon Jiajie.

“I think it is good. It will benefit me because I can get to university faster, especially since I have classes at 8.30am,” he said.

The RTS Link is scheduled to begin operations in January 2027. It takes just five minutes to cruise from Bukit Chagar in Johor Bahru to Woodlands North in Singapore, and it has the capacity to ferry up to 10,000 passengers per hour each way.

To improve journeys beyond the RTS stations, the federal government is also proposing an elevated autonomous rapid transit (e-ART) system to address last-mile connectivity and ease congestion in Johor Bahru city centre.

For commuters like Izham, Zamir and Hon, those projects represent something far more personal than new transport infrastructure: the hope of shorter journeys, more time with family, and mornings that no longer have to begin before dawn. - FMT