The Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link project has reached another milestone and is on track to be completed by end-2026.

“On the Singapore side so far, we've completed about 45 per cent of the project,” said Transport Minister S Iswaran on Friday (March 24).

Mr Iswaran was at an event commemorating the pile caps installation works in the Straits of Johor on the Singapore side.

Held at the Woodlands North Terminus site, where construction works began in March 2021, the event marked the next phase of works for the installation of the rail viaduct structure.

The RTS Link will connect Bukit Chagar in Johor Bahru to Woodlands in Singapore, serving about 10,000 passengers per hour each way to help ease traffic congestion on the Causeway.

The journey will take five minutes.

SIGNIFICANCE OF PILE CAPS

Mr Iswaran on Friday elaborated on the significance of the pile caps installation works.

A pile cap is a thick concrete mat that rests on concrete or timber piles that have been driven into soft or unstable ground to provide a stable foundation.

A total of 12 pile caps will be installed in the Straits of Johor on the Singapore side to form the foundation for the piers that support the rail viaduct structure on land and on sea or over water.

These 12 pile caps are expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2024, “in accordance with the broader schedule for the project as a whole”, said Mr Iswaran.

Once the pile caps are installed, the pier can be constructed, and soon, the viaduct. This means the RTS Link will be “progressively visible” as the project progresses, the minister added.

RTS Link tunnels will be connected to a viaduct running 25m above the Straits of Johor, connecting the Woodlands North station in Singapore to the Bukit Chagar station in Johor Bahru.

The CIQ (customs, immigration, quarantine) facilities of both countries will be co-located at the Woodlands North and Bukit Chagar stations, which means passengers only need to clear immigration authorities once — at their point of departure, said the Land Transport Authority (LTA) in its news release.

The CIQ facilities on Singapore's side will be adjacent to the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) Woodlands North MRT station and connected via an underground concourse. 

The underground Woodlands North station will have three storeys, comprising two basement levels and an underground linkway at Basement 3 to the CIQ building.

The station and the CIQ building will be about 10 times the size of a typical MRT station, added LTA.

The RTS Link project had originally been scheduled for completion in 2024, with the Malaysia and Singapore governments signing a bilateral agreement to build the link in 2018.

However, the project was suspended a number of times after the Pakatan Harapan government came to power in Malaysia.

The project officially resumed in July 2020.

It is estimated to cost RM10 billion (S$3 billion), with Singapore bearing 61 per cent of the cost. CAN

Source:
courtesy of TODAY

by Today Online

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