Malaysia Bares Plans To Address Congestion At Second Link And Causeway | Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents

Malaysia Bares Plans To Address Congestion At Second Link And Causeway

2019-10-14

Malaysia’s finance minister Lim Guan Eng revealed the Malaysian government will allocate RM85 million next year to tackle the congestion problem at the Second Link and the Causeway.

The RM85 million investment will help the traffic and vehicle flow through the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex and alleviate the congestion at the Second Link and Causeway.

Lim believes the congestion problem at the Johor Causeway, where more than 300,000 citizens commute daily to Singapore, has become a “pressing issue the government seeks to address”.

“An additional 50 counters will be opened for motorcyclists,” he said, while adding that the immigration processes will be streamlined.

As part of the long-term solution against the congestion problem, the Malaysian government intends to go on with the Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link between the country and Johor Bahru.

Read more: The KL-SG High Speed Rail and what it means for Malaysia

The RTS link, which connects Woodlands in Singapore to Bukit Chagar in Johor Bahru, is seen to service up to 10,000 passengers an hour each way.

The project was projected to be finished by 2024, but is currently behind schedule with Malaysia continuously delaying confirmation of its partner in the joint-venture.

Under the bilateral agreement signed in January 2018, a joint-venture company comprising Malaysia’s Prasarana Malaysia and Singapore’s SMRT should have been constituted by 30 June 2018.

In May, the countries agreed to suspend the project’s construction until 30 September 2019 at Malaysia’s request. This resulted in Malaysia agreeing to reimburse Singapore for the abortive costs incurred.

However, just last month, Singapore’s Ministry of Transport revealed it had agreed to Malaysia’s request to extend the suspension by a month.

The new suspension period now ends on 31 October 2019.

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