JOHOR BARU, July 2 — A new initiative to promote the usage of the Tebrau Shuttle Service among tourists from the Woodlands Train Checkpoint to JB Sentral station will hopefully ease the notorious congestion at the Second Link crossing’s Sultan Abu Bakar Complex (KSAB) in Gelang Patah.

The initiative, by the Tourism Productivity Nexus (TPN), will promote the Tebrau Shuttle Service among tourists from Singapore’s Woodlands Train Checkpoint to Jojor Baru’s JB Sentral station.

This initiative is a result of strategic collaboration between TPN and Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) to provide a world class tourist experience by utilising the KTMB Tebrau Shuttle.

Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association (MITA) president Uzaidi Udanis said that this initiative to utilise the shuttle service would reduce the congestion on the Second Link at the Sultan Abu Bakar Complex (KSAB) in Gelang Patah.

"This service, if used efficiently, can reduce congestion at the Second Link by about 30 per cent and it will have a very good effect on the traffic congestion there,” he said in a statement today.

KSAB operations task force chairman and Perling assemblyman Cheo Yee How said he welcomed the move.

"The Tebrau Shuttle Service has been around for a while, but this latest initiative will hopefully have a positive impact for the Second Link crossing that has seen an upsurge in traffic over the years,” he said.

Meanwhile Johor Tourism, Women, Family and Community Development Committee chairman Liow Cai Tung said that the initiative signifies strong cooperation involving tourism players led by the MITA in partnership with TPN.

She said that this service will facilitate the massive number of tourists traveling to Malaysia in Johor Baru, through the Woodlands Checkpoint.

The collaboration is fully supported by various stakeholders namely the Economic Affairs Ministry, the Home Affairs Ministry, Customs Department, Immigration Department, the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry, Tourism Malaysia as well as Tourism Johor.

Liow, who is also the Johor Jaya assemblyman, will lead the delegation comprising local travel agents as well as representatives from both federal and state ministries and agencies to experience the five-minute journey from JB Sentral to Woodlands checkpoint.

The Tebrau shuttle service, introduced in 2015, is a rail service aimed at reducing the Johor Causeway congestion. It commutes daily to and from Woodlands to Johor Baru.

The pilot service for tourist groups is scheduled to start on 15 July until 19 July.

In April, Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook said to reduce the congestion at the border, Malaysia has requested an increase in the frequency of the Tebrau Shuttle Service.

All KTM Intercity trains now terminate at JB Sentral station, the shuttle is the only way to travel between Malaysia and Singapore by train, with the journey across the Causeway taking just five minutes.

The Second Link Crossing, located in Tanjung Kupang near Gelang Patah, is one of two land routes connecting Johor and Singapore. The other is the busier Johor Causeway that is connected to JB Sentral in Johor Baru.

It is estimated that more than 450,000 people enter and exit Singapore from Johor via both the Johor Causeway in Johor Baru and the Second Link Crossing on a daily basis, in what can be described as one of the region’s busiest border crossings.