Rapid Transit System: LTA awards $932m building contract to Penta-Ocean
SINGAPORE – The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has awarded a $932.8 million civil contract for the construction of Johor Bahru–Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link to Penta-Ocean Construction.
The first of two civil contracts covers the construction of the RTS Link Woodlands North station, tunnels and the Customs, Immigration, and Quarantine building in Singapore.
Penta-Ocean has wide-ranging experience in infrastructure and building projects in Singapore, the LTA said in a statement on Thursday (26 November). The company is currently constructing the Bright Hill and Orchard stations on the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL). It had previously worked on the TEL Woodlands North station and the Downtown Line’s Bendemeer station.
Construction for the RTS Link is expected to start in the first quarter of next year and passenger service is expected to begin in end 2026. The second civil contract for the project, which includes the construction of the RTS Link viaduct, will be awarded in the first quarter of 2021.
The RTS Link is a rail shuttle service between the Singapore terminus at Woodlands North station and the Malaysia terminus at Bukit Chagar station in Johor Bahru. When operational, it will support up to 10,000 passengers per hour in each direction.
“When operations commence, the RTS Link will further improve connectivity between Singapore and Johor Bahru and help ease congestion along the Causeway,” the LTA said.
Singapore and Malaysia officially relaunched the RTS Link in a signing ceremony at the Causeway on 30 July after three delays.
The bilateral agreement entails changes from prior discussions including constructing the project as a standalone RTS, instead of leveraging the TEL.
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