The Rapid Transit System Link (RTS Link) project between Woodlands and Johor Bahru (JB) was "behind schedule and not progressing well" said Minister for Transport Khaw Boon Wan in a written response to a Parliamentary question by MP Ang Wei Neng on Jan. 14. 

In order to understand why the project was delayed, a little bit of context is needed.

In January 2018, Singapore and Malaysia signed a bilateral agreement (BA) regarding the RTS Link project. The bilateral agreement set out a number of milestones to track the progress of the project.

Khaw gave a couple of examples of these project milestones which should have been reached by now:

"Based on the [bilateral agreement], the Joint Venture Company (JVC) comprising Singapore’s SMRT and Malaysia’s Prasarana Malaysia Berhad should have been constituted by 30 June 2018, and the JVC should have been appointed as the RTS Link operator (OpCo) through a Concession Agreement (CA) with our Land Transport Authority and the Government of Malaysia by 30 September 2018."

However, these milestones were missed. This is because over the past few months, Malaysia had indicated that they want to change their Joint Venture partner.

Despite the agreement to have Joint Venture partner confirmed by June 2018, Malaysia delayed it until September 2018, then delayed it further until December 2018, It finally asked for another extension until February 28, 2019.

"As a result of these delays, the Joint Venture Company has not even been incorporated to-date, let alone signed the Concession Agreement," said Khaw. 

Despite the failure to reach the milestones, the bilateral agreement between both countries have measures built in to carry the project forward.

According to the agreement, both Singapore and Malaysia are obligated to jointly call a fair, international and transparent open tender to appoint the RTS Link operator if the Joint Venture Company has not been incorporated or if an operator has not been appointed. 

Singapore had sent over draft tender documents to Malaysia in November 2018.

According to Khaw, this open tender must be called by March 31, 2019 so that the appointed operator can procure the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) core system for the RTS Link. The Singapore side of the RTS Link will be connected to TEL via the Woodlands North station, hence both will be using the same core system.

However, Khaw shared that Singapore has not received Malaysia's response to the draft tender documents.

"There is therefore a real risk that Singapore and Malaysia will not be ready to call a joint open tender by 31 March 2019," he said. 

"Singapore has been diligent in implementing the BA. LTA has assembled close to 70 staff, including civil and systems engineers to implement the RTS Link," said Khaw, who assured Singaporeans that Singapore remains "fully committed" to the RTS Link project.

"We have called civil tenders to construct the RTS Link infrastructure, including Singapore’s RTS Link Woodlands North station, and our portion of the RTS Link crossing bridge."

Khaw also clarified that Singapore had been "reasonable and flexible" in light of Malaysia’s circumstances following the May 2018 Malaysian General Elections. However, he added that Malaysia's failure to engage with Singapore with regard to the tender has "serious implications" and undisclosed "consequences".

Khaw ended his reply by assuring Singaporeans that the government will continue to take a constructive approach to moving the project forward, but cautioned that the commencement of the RTS Link will be delayed past December 31, 2024.

You can read Khaw's full statement here.

Top image via Wikipedia.