Singapore’s largest rail operator, SMRT Corporation Ltd (SMRT), and Malaysia’s rail operator Prasarana signed a Memorandum of Understanding to form a joint venture company as the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System Link (RTS Link) operating company (OpCo). The RTS Link OpCo will be expected to design, build, finance, operate, maintain and renew the RTS Link operating assets like trains, tracks and systems.
This development paves the way for both companies to work on a JV Agreement and the incorporation of a Joint Venture Company that will operate the Woodlands – Johor Bahru railway line by December 2024. “As an inter-country metro connection between Singapore and Malaysia, the RTS Link is a significant milestone for better connectivity and public transportation links between our two countries that will serve us for decades to come,” Chairman of SMRT, Seah Moon Ming said.
The RTS Link will serve the growing transport needs and improve productivity between Singapore and Johor Bahru, Malaysia. On 15 September 2017, the Land Transport Authority announced that SMRT Trains, a subsidiary of SMRT Corporation Ltd, had won the tender to operate the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) from 2019 for an initial period of nine years. Commuters travelling from Singapore will be able to transfer from Woodlands North MRT station on the TEL to the RTS Link platform for seamless travel to Malaysia.
“When the Thomson-East Coast Line is added to SMRT’s MRT network from 2019, we will work towards integrating the commuter’s travel experience on our network with the upcoming RTS Link. We hope that the MOU will lead to a successful joint venture agreement and a close working relationship between our two rail companies,” CEO of SMRT, Desmond Kuek, said.
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