Published January 3, 2009

New passenger train to ply S'pore and JB

Rail service is an Iskandar Malaysia economic zone project initiative

By LEE U-WEN

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A NEW passenger rail service will start on Monday between Tanjong Pagar station in Singapore and Danga City Mall in Johor Baru.

MR ABDUL GHANI Wants to make it easier for people to cross the borders

It is the first of several transport-related initiatives under the Iskandar Malaysia economic zone project in Johor. Plans are under way to start a passenger ferry service, water taxis and even an MRT link as part of an integrated public transport system linking Singapore and Malaysia's southern peninsula.

'We want to make it easier and more convenient for people to cross our borders,' Johor Chief Minister Abdul Ghani Othman, who is the co-chairman of Iskandar Malaysia with Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, said yesterday.

The transport alternatives are being worked on by the Malaysia-Singapore Joint Ministerial Committee for Iskandar Malaysia. At present there are only scheduled bus and taxi services between the two countries, plus shuttle air services to Kuala Lumpur.

More than 200,000 people, many of them on motorcycles, use the Causeway each day. It is hoped that the new train service - operated by Malaysia's national railway operator Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) - will ease congestion on the Causeway and improve the flow of people and goods.

Danga City Mall in JB's Jalan Tun Razak area is the first shopping complex in southern Malaysia to have its own rail platform. There will be eight services daily - four each way. The trip will cost $3 from Singapore and RM3 ($1.25) from JB. The journey will take about 90 minutes, including immigration and customs clearance at the Woodlands checkpoint. The first train will leave Tanjong Pagar at 5.35am and the last at 7pm. Trains will depart JB from 9am. Each trip can take 200 passengers.

Danga City Mall management is providing a free city tour bus service for visitors, departing from the mall. Mr Abdul Ghani said yesterday that after the rail service, the next immediate possibility will be a water taxi service between JB's Danga Bay jetty and a yet-to-be designated point in Singapore.

A scheduled passenger ferry service across the Straits of Johor also has plenty of promise because of the likely ease and speed compared with crossing via the often congested Causeway.

Mr Abdul Ghani said that an MRT or monorail link is a long-term proposition being looked at by the Singapore and Malaysia authorities.

At a news conference at Tanjong Pagar station yesterday, Johor's tourism and domestic trade committee chairman Hoo Seong Chang said that if response to the rail service is good, a further four trips a day will be added from Feb 1 between Singapore and Kluang, a town about 110km north of JB.

'I have instructed KTM to consider increasing the number of trips, especially during the morning and after-work peak hours, as well as add new coaches,' said Mr Hoo. 'As Malaysia and Singapore are close neighbours, there is much to gain from synergising our resources to beat off the competition from other emerging new economic zones.'

The global economic slowdown aside, Malaysian statistics show that Singaporeans are still the top spenders in Malaysia. Figures for the 2008 Malaysia Mega Sale carnival show Singaporeans spent RM62.8 million on credit cards, followed by Indonesians with RM41.6 million.