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KUALA LUMPUR – An architect from Johor won the competition to design the future Johor Baru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) interchange station in Bukit Chagar.
Architect Chin Yee Chong’s design, “Integration of Two”, represents the relationship and history of Johor and Singapore, inspired by the concept of two hands held by the wrists.
Mohd Zarif Hashim, CEO of Malaysia’s Mass Rapid Transit Corporation (MRT Corp), said: “It is very modern and futuristic. It will be a design that we will all be proud of … An iconic Johor landmark once it is finished.”
Datuk Zarif announced the winning design at a virtual press conference on Friday (February 19).
“The building will be 16 stories high, (with) four (floors) that will be used to house the Department of Immigration, Customs and Quarantine (CIQ),” he added.
The Facade Design Ideas Contest, jointly organized by MRT Corp and Pertubuhan Akitek Malaysia, harnessed the talents of Malaysian architects to discover an appropriate design for the RTS Link station.
For winning the competition, Mr. Chin, who is from Johor Baru-based SM Architects, took home RM 250,000 (Singapore $ 82,100).
The competition was launched on November 23 last year, the day after the project’s inauguration ceremony, and ran until January 25 this year.
The 4 km RTS link, 2.7 km on the route in Malaysia and 1.3 km in Singapore, will link JB’s Bukit Chagar station with Singapore’s Woodlands North MRT station.
It will take travelers about five minutes to get to Bukit Chagar Station from Woodlands North Station, after going through immigration. Rail service can carry up to 10,000 passengers per hour in each direction.
Construction of the project in Bukit Chagar began in November last year, and Malaysia started a three-month public inspection of the RTS Link project last month.
RTS Link stations will be integrated with local transportation networks in Johor and Woodlands. Eventually, there will be a transportation hub connected to the RTS Link and the Thomson-East Coast Line in Singapore.
A brainchild of Johor Sultan Ibrahim Ismail, the station’s design competition received 91 submissions.
The winning design features natural lighting and self-cleaning glass, which would reduce maintenance cost. It will be built with lightweight composite materials.
When asked if travelers would need to clear immigration on both sides, Zarif said: “They would have to get clearance from both, but it will be done in the same building.
“Travelers must complete the formalities with Johor immigration first before going up one floor and doing the same for the Singapore side, and then boarding the train. Once in Woodlands, they can come and go.”
Once the project is underway, the efficiency of the rail operation is their biggest concern, Zarif said.
“I must say that after we complete this project, my concern is whether we will be able to meet expectations, moving people seamlessly between the two countries within 15 minutes,” The Business was quoted as saying on Friday. Times.
“If you ask me, my wish is that we can get through the border formalities in Malaysia in five minutes, the clear formalities on the Singapore side in five minutes and take a train ride in five minutes,” he said.
CIQ’s facilities for both Singapore and Malaysia will also be located at each station, meaning that travelers will have to go through immigration only once, at their point of departure.
First announced in 2010, the rail link project was initially scheduled to be ready for 2018. A new start date of late 2024 was agreed in 2017 and both countries signed an agreement the following year, with construction due to begin in 2019.
But the project stalled after the Pakatan Harapan government came to power in Malaysia in May 2018. The project was suspended for six months at the request of Malaysia to review its scope, structure and costs. The deadline for agreeing on new terms was extended four times before the project got back on track in July last year, a day before the final deadline.
Several key changes were made, including the use of an independent light rail transit (LRT) system instead of the same trains and systems as the Thomson-East Coast Line.
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