MALAYSIA will try to negotiate with Singapore to retain the operation of the Shuttle Tebrau train service between Johor Baru Sentral and Woodlands, Singapore, after the Johor Baru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link begins operations.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the termination of the shuttle service was one of the conditions agreed between Malaysia and Singapore in implementing the RTS project, but this was to give passengers a choice.

“I personally feel that it is not wrong if we have more connectivity between the two countries… which gives choices to passengers.

“Therefore, the Transport Ministry will try to negotiate this matter with Singapore, so that this service is maintained even after the RTS starts operating,” he said at the Ministers’ Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat today.

He said this in his reply to a supplementary question from Suhaizan Kaiat (Pulai-PH) on whether the Johor Baru Sentral-Woodlands shuttle service will be maintained after RTS starts operating.

Responding to Suhaizan’s original question on the ridership of Shuttle Tebrau and measures to increase the capacity of the service, Loke said there was an encouraging increase in the number of passengers and for this year, it has increased by 7%, an average of 8,635 passengers per day.

He said the Malaysia-Singapore Joint Ministerial Committee for Iskandar Malaysia decided to increase the capacity of the train service, which included increasing the frequency of train operations from 31 to 36 trips and increasing the number of coaches per train operation from four to eight coaches. – Bernama, October 26, 2023.