S’pore And M’sia Ink Historic RTS Deal Along with Causeway Construction In Early 2021
As we all know, during the pre-COVID periods, entering Malaysia via the Causeway can be a great headache while it might take less than half an hour to clear through immigration, and during bad days it might take up to up few hours to get from one side to another.
However, there might be good news as both Singapore and Malaysia have finalized the agreement connecting both countries with a Rapid Transport System (RTS) link. The ceremony which saw both Singapore and Malaysia Prime minister in attendance on the signing of 3 agreements.
These agreement are :
- Bilateral agreement
- Concession agreement
- Joint venture company to operate RTS agreement
The ceremony which took place on 30 Jul at 10 am, saw several guests of honour from both sides. Besides PM Lee, we also saw Singapore’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan and Transport Minister Mr Ong Ye Kung at the ceremony. Even former Transport Minister Mr Khaw Boon Wan – who had recently been warded for dengue infection – came down for the ceremony.
Construction for the Singapore-Malaysia RTS link is slated to begin in Jan 2021 and operations will likely begin in late 2026. This RTS link – which costs around $1.03 billion – will be able to accommodate 10,000 passengers every hour, which should significantly ease traffic on the Causeway. Although entering Malaysia for leisure activities is not possible at the moment, we can’t wait for the day to experience the new RTS trains in 6 years time.
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