In the 1950s, the colonial government considered converting the section of the old Malayan Railway in Singapore into a passenger railway with connections to Johor Baru and beyond. It appears that the idea will come to fruition soon.

The Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link will have a capacity of 10,000 passengers per hour in each direction.

If some of the Malaysians working in Singapore who crossed the Causeway daily before the pandemic switch to using the RTS Link, the congestion at the Causeway will lessen during peak periods.

For this to happen, there have to be sufficiently large holding areas adjacent to the Woodlands North RTS station, for buses to transport these workers to their workplaces, which could be a fair distance from the station.

Similar facilities also have to be available at the Bukit Chagar station.

The roads leading in and out of the Woodlands North station will also need bus priority measures during peak periods to speed up the movement of these buses.

Otherwise, the motorcycle congestion that had been occurring at the Causeway will be replaced by bus congestion on Singapore roads.

I hope that the authorities are looking into these requirements.

Gopinath Menon