The Shuttle Tebrau service commutes daily to and from Woodlands to JB Sentral. The pilot service for tourist groups is currently ongoing till the 19th of July 2019
The congestion problem between the border of Johor and Singapore have been long discussed despite it was the busiest border in the world in terms of human traffic. But both countries are working hand in hand to recuperate these issues.
Data from Immigration Department of Malaysia showed that in 2018 about 942,927 people had travel through Woodlands Train Checkpoint (WTCP), meanwhile from January to May 2019 about 408,719 people had used the same entry/checkout point.
| ENTRY POINT | 2018 | JAN – MAY 2019 |
| BANGUNAN SULTAN ISKANDAR (CIQ) | 37,659,214 | 18,023,574 |
| KOMPLEKS SULTAN ABU BAKAR (SECONDLINK) | 20,148,225 | 7,344,369 |
| WOODLANDS TRAIN CHECK POINT | 942,927 | 408,719 |
| TOTAL | 58,750,366 | 25,776,662 |
- Data from the Immigration Department of Malaysia
In the midst of preparing the Visit Johor Year 2020, Tourism Johor had decided to work closely with Yayasan Warisan Johor (YWJ) as part of their strategy to ensure the success of Visit Johor 2020 campaign. The richness of Johor culture had paving the route for tourism and heritage to be blend in, in boosting the state tourism industry.
Apart from Tourism Johor, Tourism Productivity Nexus (TPN) under the Malaysia Productivity Center (MPC) is embarking on a new initiative to promote the Tebrau Shuttle Service among tourists from Woodlands Train Checkpoint to JB Sentral Station. This initiative is a result of strategic collaboration between TPN and Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) to provide a world class tourist experience by utilising KTMB Tebrau Shuttle. The collaboration is fully supported by various stakeholders namely federal department of Malaysia, Tourism Johor and support from their fellow Immigration and Checkpoint Authority of Singapore.
Commencing 1st July 2011, KTMB had ceased its operation at Tanjung Pagar Railway Station (TPRS), Singapore and move its operation to Woodlands Train Check Point (WTCP), Singapore.
Tebrau Shuttle commenced on 1st July 2015 with 14 trips daily with the Malaysian Government’s objective to help reducing congestion at Johor Causeway as well as to ease the burden for motorist due to increase in cost of living in respect of new inbound and outbound toll charges imposed at Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) Complex effective on 1 August 2014.
Currently KTMB have 2 rakes where each of it comprises of 4 coaches, 2 locomotives and 1 power generators cars (PGC) for power supply. The capacity that each rakes can accommodate is 320 pax with 240 seated and 80 standing passengers. And the best part is the distance between Woodlands and JB Sentral was just about 1.1 km with 5 minutes travelling time. The ticket price was RM5.00 (JB Sentral – Woodlands) and RM16.00 (Woodlands – JB Sentral). KTMB are looking forward for increase of trips from 31 trips daily to 36 daily and also increase from 4 coaches to 5 coaches.
The Chairman of Johor Tourism, Women, Family and Community Development Committee, Liow Cai Tung, said that this initiative signifies a strong cooperation involving tourism players in Johor. She added that this service will facilitate the massive number of tourists travelling to Malaysia in Johor, through the Woodlands checkpoint. The delegation comprising local travel agents as well as representatives from Federal and State ministries and agencies had gotten an opportunity to experience the 5-minute journey from JB Sentral to Woodlands checkpoint.
In addition the facilities available at JB Sentral which is managed by Property Management Unit, Prime Minister Office has improved tremendously to facilitate tourists and even daily users with a Tourist Information Centre administered by Tourism Malaysia.
The Shuttle Tebrau service commutes daily to and from Woodlands to JB Sentral. The pilot service for tourist groups has already commenced since 15 July but till 19 July 2019.
