A NEW shuttle train from Singapore to a brand new shopping mall in Johor Baru has got off to a bad start.

On its first day of operation, on Monday, one of the morning trains heading from Danga City Mall to Singapore was delayed by more than an hour, leaving passengers angry and frustrated.

Yesterday was no better, with Singapore-bound passengers hoping to catch the 2.19pm train having to wait at the station in the mall for over an hour.

Several other train services plying between the new seven-storey mega mall, one of JB's biggest, have also been delayed by between 10 and 20 minutes.

The delays are said to be due to a landslide last Friday in Gemas - a small town in Negri Sembilan.

The trains on the Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) railway between Malaysia and Singapore generally start from northern Malaysia, with various services stopping at different towns along the way.

Passengers left waiting at the station in Danga City Mall were told by KTM's ticketing agent that the delay was due to repairs and cleaning works on the train tracks because of the landslide.

The additional stop at the Danga City Mall was launched on Monday as a new service linking KTM's Tanjong Pagar station in Singapore to the new mall.

The 90-minute journey is supposed to make it more convenient for Singaporeans going to JB to shop as the train stops right at the mall. Other shopping centres popular among Singaporeans, like Pelangi and City Square, are just five minutes away from Danga City Mall by taxi.

But the train delays have left Singaporean shoppers miffed.

Retiree Susan Tan, 56, said: 'I picked the 2.19pm train to avoid the peak hour jam back home. But it's going to be hard because of the delay.'

She finally reached Singapore at 5pm - 50 minutes later than scheduled.

For bank executive Winson Goh, 40, it was an exasperating wait as there was no prior notice of any train delay when he and his wife bought their tickets.

'If we had known, we could have gone to grab something to eat instead of waiting around aimlessly,' said Mr Goh, who was with his wife Doreen Hiew, 38.

Madam Hiew, a business analyst, said: 'They said it will arrive at 3.10pm but it's still not here.'

And there was no announcement when the train finally pushed into the station 10 minutes later. After three minutes of boarding time, a short hoot of the train's horn announced its departure, leaving several people scrambling to get onboard.

Retiree Sam Lim, 58, and his group of friends decided to get a refund on their 2.19pm train ticket and head to City Square after a futile one-hour wait.

'We're going to take the public bus back...the train times are too unreliable.'