KUALA LUMPUR (July 9): The deadline for Prasarana Malaysia Bhd and Singapore’s SMRT Corp Ltd to create a joint-venture company to operate the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link has been missed, Singapore’s transport minister Khaw Boon Wan has been reported as saying.

Khaw told his country’s parliament today that joint-venture company was not set up by the June 30 deadline as Prasarana Malaysia suspended negotiations with SMRT after the Malaysia’s general election in May, reported Channel News Asia.

“This means that both countries should now proceed to call an open, international tender to appoint the RTS Link operator, unless we mutually agree on a postponement of the deadline,” Khaw said.

Prasarana Malaysia and SMRT signed a memorandum of understanding in September last year to form joint-venture company to design, build, finance, operate, maintain and renew the RTS Link operating assets such as trains, tracks and systems.

Later on Jan 16, Malaysia and Singapore inked a legally-binding agreement to build the RTS link.

The cross-border service will connect Bukit Chagar in Johor with Singapore's Woodlands North, where it will join the future Thomson-East Coast Line. The RTS is supposed to start running by end-2024,

The RTS trains will carry up to 10,000 passengers per hour in each direction. This means that there will be an additional capacity of 60,000 people crossing the causeway during peak hours with the RTS.