SINGAPORE - The cross-border rail line between Singapore and Johor is progressing well, said Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung on Monday (Jan 4).

"The Johor Baru side has broken ground. On our side, we will break ground soon and we hope the project and the service can commence in 2026 as scheduled," he added.

Mr Ong was responding to Mr Ang Wei Neng (West Coast GRC), on whether the cancellation of the High-Speed Rail project has any impact on the RTS Link.

The project was first announced in 2010, and was initially set to be completed in end-2024. But it was suspended in 2019 at Malaysia's request for a review, before officially resuming in July last year.

When completed, the 4km link will connect passengers between Johor's Bukit Chagar terminus station and the Singapore terminus in Woodlands North. The trip between both stations should take five minutes.

The RTS Link will carry up to 10,000 passengers per hour in each direction.

It should ease congestion on the Causeway and make the Singapore-Malaysia border more easily accessible, both countries have said.

The Land Transport Authority had awarded the first RTS civil contract - worth $932.8 million - in November last year to Penta-Ocean Construction, to build the RTS Link Woodlands North Station, tunnels and the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine building in Singapore.

The second contract for the project will be awarded in the first quarter of this year, the LTA said then.