KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 26 — Malaysia will try to negotiate with Singapore to maintain the operation of the Tebrau Shuttle Train service between Johor Baru Sentral and Woodlands, Singapore, after the Johor Baru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link begins operations.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke said that the termination of the shuttle service was one of the conditions agreed between Malaysia and Singapore in implementing the RTS project, but this was to give passengers a choice.

"I personally feel that it is not wrong if we have more connectivity between the two countries... which gives choices to passengers.

"Therefore, the Ministry of Transport (MOT) will try to negotiate this matter with Singapore, so that this service is maintained even after the RTS starts operating,” he said at the Ministers’ Question Time session in the Dewan Rakyat, today.

He said this in his reply to a supplementary question from Suhaizan Kaiat (PH-Pulai) on whether the Johor Baru Sentral -Woodlands shuttle service will be maintained after RTS starts operating.

Responding to Suhaizan’s original question regarding ridership of Shuttle Tebrau and measures to increase the capacity of the service, Loke said the number of passengers recorded an encouraging increase and for this year, it has increased by seven per cent, which is an average of 8,635 passengers per day.

He said that the Malaysia-Singapore Joint Ministerial Committee for Iskandar Malaysia (JMCIM) decided to increase the capacity of the train service, which included increasing the frequency of train operations from 31 to 36 trips and increasing the number of coaches per train operation from four to eight coaches.

Meanwhile, in his reply to an additional question from Khairil Nizam Khirudin (PN-Jerantut) regarding measures to reduce congestion at peak times at the country’s entry points for Malaysians working in Singapore, Loke said that among the efforts being made was to coordinate with various agencies to speed up the immigration process at Johor Causeway.

"In terms of the counter or Touch ‘n Go service to pay the road charge for entry from Singapore has been consolidated which can save some time for cars from Singapore entering Malaysia.

"We will try to add more motorcycle lanes and immigration counters. In addition, we are also looking at other ways to increase connectivity with the proposal to have a ferry service between the two countries,” he said. — Bernama