Responding to Mr Suhaizan’s original question regarding the ridership of Shuttle Tebrau and measures to increase the capacity of the service, Mr Loke said the number of passengers recorded an encouraging increase. This year, it increased by seven per cent, which is an average of 8,635 passengers per day, he said.
He added 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.
CNA has reached out to Singapore’s Ministry of Transport for response on Mr Loke’s comments on the negotiations to continue the Shuttle Tebrau train service.
COMMUTERS PREFER OPTION OF HAVING TWO TRAIN SERVICES
Commuters whom CNA spoke to said they were caught unaware that the Shuttle Tebrau train service would be discontinued when the Johor Bahru-Singapore RTS Link begins operations.
Ms Sharon Wan, a 36-year-old Malaysian nurse, said: “I (was) not aware of (the planned discontinuation) … I am a bit upset because more people will be travelling to and fro and I am afraid that the RTS Link might be over flooded.”
She added that there should be “two train services” plying between both countries – citing the convenience of the current Shuttle Tebrau train service as compared to buses – to meet the demand from commuters.
“The train is convenient, my parents, aunts and uncles like it also. Trains have fewer people, so the waiting time to cross the immigration is faster and we don’t have to queue for buses,” said Ms Wan, who rents a room in Singapore and makes a fortnightly trip home to Johor Bahru.
Another commuter, Ms Satryani Ishak, 25, said that she prefers the option of having two train services to choose from even after the opening of the JB-Singapore RTS Link.
“The capacity of travellers travelling daily to JB is quite a number and most of them are unable to take the train once it has reached full capacity. They will have to rely on the buses instead which have quite a bit of waiting time,” said the assistant head of a student care centre.
Singaporean Mellisa Mellini, a relief childcare teacher, noted that “the Tebrau Shuttle tickets are usually sold out quite fast”.
“Probably they can maintain this shuttle first when the new one operates (and then) see from there what is the demand,” said Ms Mellisa, who took the train during all her five trips to JB this year.