The RTS Link to JB now opens in February 2027, not at the end of 2026

The Causeway jam has been a rite of passage for decades. It stays one for a few months longer.

The five-minute train to Johor Bahru will not run this year. On 2 October 2026 the Land Transport Authority and Malaysia's Ministry of Transport said the operator, RTS Operations, now expects passenger service on the RTS Link to start in February 2027, later than the end-2026 target both governments had worked to. Even that depends on the line passing an independent safety assessment and getting final approval from regulators on both sides, and neither an opening day nor a fare has been announced.

The building is done; the checking is not. The joint release says the infrastructure in Singapore and Malaysia is substantially complete. The operator expects to finish its final system tests and trial runs by 31 December 2026, then needs certification from an independent safety assessor, and only after both governments have reviewed that can passenger service be approved.

Why it matters: the line runs about 4km from Woodlands North, the top end of the Thomson–East Coast Line, across the Straits of Johor to Bukit Chagar, a short walk from JB Sentral and the city centre, and both countries' immigration checks are cleared once, at the station you leave from. For anyone who crosses every week, for groceries, family or work, that turns an hour or more of Causeway traffic into a ride of about five minutes. The two-month slip means the December school holidays and Christmas will still be Causeway trips.

Our advice: plan December's JB runs the old way, by bus or car over the Causeway, and leave early on Friday evenings and the weekends before Christmas. Book nothing around the RTS Link until LTA names a day and a fare. When it does, expect the first weekends to be crowded with people trying it for the sake of it; a weekday off-peak crossing is the one to try first.

Good to know Woodlands North (TE1) is the Singapore terminus. Passenger service targeted for February 2027 (LTA and Malaysia's Ministry of Transport, 2 October 2026), subject to independent safety certification and regulatory approval. Opening day and fares not yet announced.

Want more of what’s new? Here’s everything else on the list.