Johor–Singapore Causeway

Coordinates: 1°27′09.98″N 103°46′08.95″E / 1.4527722°N 103.7691528°E / 1.4527722; 103.7691528

Johor–Singapore Causeway
Tambak Johor
Carries Motor vehicles
Single-track railway
Crosses Straits of Johor
Locale Johor Bahru, Malaysia
Woodlands, Singapore
Official name Johor–Singapore Causeway
Maintained by Malaysia
PLUS Malaysia Berhad
(Projek Lebuhraya Usahasama Berhad)

Singapore
Land Transport Authority (LTA)
Characteristics
Total length 1 km
History
Opened 1923

The Johor–Singapore Causeway (Malay: Tambak Johor) is a 1056-metre causeway that links the city of Johor Bahru in Malaysia across the Straits of Johor to the town of Woodlands in Singapore. It serves as a road and rail link, as well as water piping into Singapore.

Attempts to have the Causeway replaced

The Johor–Singapore Causeway across the Straits of Johor facing towards Singapore.
The same causeway facing towards Johor Bahru.

There were several calls by Malaysians to remove the Causeway. The first call occurred in the Johor state legislative council when the speaker said that the Causeway was "more a hindrance than anything else" while a port should be built close to Johor Bahru to rejuvenate the city's economy. The state of Johor currently already has developed ports including Pasir Gudang and Tanjong Pelapas.

The second demand came in year 1986 when Israeli President Chaim Herzog visited Singapore. At that time, the Singapore Government was criticised by Malaysian politicians and the press for allowing his visit (Interestingly, one of Singapore's Founding fathers, David Saul Marshall, was Jewish and the island has strong links with Israel).

Under the former Mahathir administration, the Malaysian government scheduled to build a new customs, immigration and quarantine complex on a hilltop near the Johor Bahru railway station. A bridge was planned to link the new customs complex with the city square. The project was named Southern Integrated Gateway (Gerbang Selatan Bersepadu) by the government. The project was awarded to a construction company, Gerbang Perdana. During the construction, one of the two underpass channels located at the end of the old customs complex had been blocked. Roads exiting from the old customs complex have been diverted. The design envisages a re-direction of traffic flow to the new customs complex after the completion of the proposed new bridge to Singapore. The old customs complex will be torn down once the new customs complex begins operation. All this while, no agreement had been reached with the Singapore Government on replacing the causeway with a proposed new bridge.

The proposals on replacing the old causeway with a new bridge has resulted in a political rift between the two countries since the early 2000s. The Malaysian government envisioned that disagreement by Singapore to participate in the project would result in a crooked bridge above Malaysian waters with half the causeway remaining on the Singapore side. However, Singapore has hinted that it might agree to a bridge if its air force is allowed to use part of Johor's airspace. Malaysia refused the offer and negotiation is said to be still ongoing.[1]

In January 2006, Malaysia unilaterally announced that it is going ahead to build the new bridge on the Malaysian side, now referred to as scenic bridge.[2] The construction of the new scenic bridge on Malaysian side officially began on 10 March 2006, when the piling works of this bridge was completed,[3] but on 12 April 2006, construction was halted and scrapped by Mahathir's successor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, with growing complications in both negotiation (the conditions set by Singapore were strongly opposed by the people of Malaysia on grounds of national sovereignty) and legal matters with Singapore.[4]

Most recently, Badawi has said that "in [the] future, there won't be just one or two bridges between Malaysia and Singapore."[5]

In early November 2006, the Sultan of Johor called for the demolition of the link, reasoning that the Causeway is undermining the state economy.[6][7]

VEP charges for Foreign-Registered Vehicles[8]

Bus services

Public Buses crossing the causeway

Service Origin Destination Note
Causeway Link Cross Border Services
CW1 Larkin Woodlands Road
CW2 Larkin Queen Street
CW5 Bangunan Sultan Iskandar Newton Food Centre
SBS Transit Trunk Services
160 Jurong East Loop at JB Sentral
170 Queen Street Larkin
170X Woodlands Road (Kranji MRT Station)Loop at JB Sentral
SMRT Buses Trunk Service
950 Woodlands Loop at JB Sentral

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Shahrir Samah Replies: Have I burnt my bridges?". New Straits Times. 9 February 2005. (Posted on www.jeffooi.com)
  2. ↑ "Malaysian PM on 'Scenic Bridge' Go-ahead". The New Paper. 31 January 2006.
  3. ↑ "'Scenic bridge' to open in 2009". New Straits Times. 10 March 2006.
  4. ↑ "M'sia Stops Construction Of Bridge To Replace Johor Causeway". Prime Minister's Office, Malaysia. 12 April 2006.
  5. ↑ "'Singapore". The Edge Malaysia. 11 September 2006.
  6. ↑ "Malaysian sultan calls for scrapping of causeway to Singapore". Agence France-Pesse via The Nation. 3 November 2006.
  7. ↑ "Malaysian sultan calls for scrapping of causeway to Singapore". Bernama. 5 November 2006.
  8. ↑ "Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) Fees & Toll Charges". Land Transport Authority of Singapore. Retrieved 19 August 2014.

Others

External links

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