Johor Bahru needs a metro system if it wants to be like Shenzhen.
Johor Bahru is located at the southern end of Peninsular Malaysia, opposite Singapore. This geographic location has likened Johor Bahru with Shenzhen, opposite Hong Kong. City planners and government officials have stated that they want Johor Bahru to be the next Shenzhen.
There are plans to create a joint Iskandar Malaysia-Singapore special economic zone (SEZ), and to turn Iskandar Malaysia into an international metropolis. an SEZ won’t be enough without a comprehensive transit system and better urban planning.
Johor Bahru is currently building a transit line to Singapore, the high-speed railway is being revived, and there are plans for three LRT lines.
To envisage what Johor Bahru could look like if it was like Shenzhen, I have made a metro map that combines current railways, officially proposed railways, and new railways that I propose.
Here is my vision of what a future Johor Bahru metro system could look like.
[View full size.]
Index
Johor Bahru Metro Concept Map
West Coast Line
ECRL 2
Kuala Lumpur – Singapore High-Speed Railway
KTM Commuter Line
JHB Airport Rail Link
Crescent Line
Crossrail
LRT Skudai
LRT Tebrau
LRT Iskandar Puteri
RTS Link 1
RTS Link 2
Google Map of lines
Notes on the concept map
News and links
Johor Bahru Metro Concept Map
The Johor Bahru Metro Concept Map as an unofficial map by James Clark from Future Southeast Asia.
I use the term “metro” loosely as the lines are made up of different railway types. A more accurate description is urban rail transit system as the lines are a combination of rapid transit, light rail, and commuter railways.
I’ve used the title Johor Bahru Metro as most of the lines are in Johor Bahru District. It could also be called Iskandar Malaysia Metro. I think JB Metro is better branding, and is better than a long name like Klang Valley Integrated Transit System.
Here are the lines that feature on the map.
West Coast Line
The West Coast Line from JB to Gemas is a single-track metre-gauge railway with trains hauled by diesel engines. The line is being doubled-tracked and electrified and is expected to be completed by 2025. Once this is finished the ETS (Electric Train Service) that is operating from KL to Gemas will be able to travel to JB. That will mean faster travel from JB to KL (though not high-speed).
[ETS at Gemas. This train will connect KL to JB.]
The West Coast Line on the concept map includes the shuttle service from JB to Woodlands in Singapore (KTM Shuttle Tebrau). This service is planned to be retired once the RTS Link is open, though there have been calls to keep the shuttle open.
My proposal is is keep the line open and resume full KL-Woodlands services. If JB wants to be a metropolis like Shenzhen, then there should be multiple ways in which to get to Singapore. I would make it so that the JB to Woodlands section that crosses the causeway is exclusively for KTM passengers, and walk-up passengers can get a ticket 30 minutes beforehand if there are tickets left.
[Shuttle train at JB Sentral.]
ECRL 2
ECRL 2 is a proposal from the PLANMalaysia government website. MyPLAN by PLANMalaysia is a platform of national development plan documents. The Integrated and StrategicTransportation Network document includes a concept map that extends the East Coast Rail Link from Kuantan to Pasir Gudang.
[Rancangan Fizikal Negara (National Physical Plan) Ke-4 (view full size).]
Kuala Lumpur – Singapore High-Speed Railway
The Kuala Lumpur – Singapore High-Speed Railway was cancelled by Malaysia in January 2021, but now the government is looking to restart the project. The concept map shows the planned station locations in Iskandar Puteri and Jurong East in Singapore.
[The original design of Iskandar Puteri Station.]
KTM Commuter Line
The KTM Commuter Line uses the same railway as the West Coast Line. Once the line is doubled-tracked, commuter and long-distance trains can use the same track without having to wait at a passing loop. The concept map shows the commuter railway going to Senai, though the commuter railway should cover all of Johor State.
JHB Airport Rail Link
The Airport Rail Link would branch off the KTM line at Senai. It would only need about 5 km of new line to connect JHB to JB Sentral.
[It’s time for an airport rail link to JHB.]
Crescent Line
The Crescent Line would use the existing rail corridors that are used for freight. A new section would have to be added between Skudai Junction and Kempas Baru to give it its crescent shape.
The stations at either end of the Crescent Line are terminal stations for long-distance railways. These stations are also connected to other transit lines, making them major transit hubs for each side. A silver lining of the high-speed railway being cancelled is that the Iskandar Puteri HSR station can be redesigned to be a fully-integrated transit hub. If JB wants to be like Shenzhen then it needs to build transit centres properly from the biginning.
I have called it “Line” to keep the options open of what type of rail system would operate on the line. It could start out by just using the existing railway, then over time it can be upgraded to an LRT or MRT service when there is more population density around each station.
The line is inspired by the London Overground, which turned existing railway infrastructure into an urban railway system.
As for the crescent shape, this is a good opportunity to mention that metro maps aren’t shown to scale. While the route does take in a cresent shape, it is not perfectly rounded as shown on the map, just as the Singapore MRT Circle Line isn’t a perfect circle.
Crossrail
The Crossrail is another inspiration from London, from the railway now known as the Elizabeth Line. The JB Crossrail is an East-West railway that passes through JB Sentral. Like the Crescent Line, the Crossrail connects the long-distance rail terminals.
The Crossrail will go to Forest City, giving the much-maligned project a direct connection to the high-speed railway and JB Sentral. The Sultan of Johor has called for the high-speed railway to be rerouted through Forest City, so if that happens I will adjust the map accordingly. This concept map is using the current alignment of the high-speed railway.
The route of the Crossrail follows the coast of the Johor Strait, providing a rail service for some of the largest projects along the way. This line could also be called the Straits Line if it’s aligned to follow the coast the entire way. This would resemble the Marmaray in Istanbul, which runs along the Sea of Marmara.
[Marmaray of Istanbul (via dailysabah.com).]
Here are some of the planned developments near the stations of Crossrail.
Tropicana Danga Bay at Danga Bay Station.
R&F Princess Cove at R&F Princess Cove Station.
Tebrau Riverside at Riverside Station.
Tebrau Waterfront Residences.
LRT Iskandar Puteri
LRT Iskandar Puteri is one of three LRT lines that were proposed in 2023. The three LRT lines have been proposed to connect JB Sentral/Bukit Chagar. The LRT Iskandar Puteri line on the concept map will be different to the official line as I have other lines serving the Iskandar Puteri area.
LRT Skudai
LRT Skudai is the second proposed LRT line, though the route shown on the concept map isn’t official. The concept map runs a line through central JB, passing by urban developments such as Coronation Square.
[Coronation Square.]
LRT Tebrau
LRT Tebrau is the third propsed LRT Line, and this line follows the major roads to the north of JB.
RTS Link 1
The RTS Link will connect Bukit Chagar in Johor Bahru to Woodlands North in Singapore. The trip will take six minutes, and train frequency is expected to be 3.6 minutes during peak hours. Passengers will clear immigration for both countries at the same end, so passengers can walk straight out of the station upon arrival.
[Route of RTS Link compared to the metro-style line of the concept map.]
Bukit Chagar is a separate station next to JB Sentral. There are plans to connect the LRT lines to Bukit Chagar, but it is not a ticketless interchange due to the border crossing.
RTS Link 2
I propose a second RTS Link in the future, though this is low priority for now. If Forest City is revived and the Iskandar Puteri area becomes a thriving Shenzhen-esque metropolis, then there will need to be better access to Singapore from this end of JB.
The high-speed railway would be infrequent and more expensive for commuter purposes, so the RTS 2 Link would provide quick and affordable access to Singapore. The RTS 2 Link would also be accessible for commuters from Forest City, so it would help to revive this project.
Google Map of lines
This is the map I used to plot the lines. The map shoes the challenges of building a metro like Shenzhen for a city that is not planned like Shenzhen.
[Map of Johor Bahru Metro Concept Map.]
Notes on the concept map
Maybe you are thinking that this is a fantasy map by a rail enthusiast that is not grounded in reality. In actual fact, I have been conservative for this map. In 2011 it was reported that the Iskandar Regional Development Authority were pondering the viability of a 500km mass rapid transit system. Most of the lines on the map have been proposed in one form or another, so if anything I should have added some more lines.
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Further reading: How to make Johor Bahru an international metropolis of Southeast Asia.
News and links
2023
Johor ups its game to become the next Shenzhen in order to attract investors – [18/10/23]
“Looking to turn itself to Shenzhen, China’s so-called Silicon Valley, Johor plans to attract more foreign investment through the SEZ and seek a stronger footing in the push for the Greater Iskandar Malaysia region.
The Johor state government is confident that the SEZ and the Special Financial Zone (SFZ) will catalyse the state’s economic growth.”
Johor can be the next Shenzen with new SEZ- Johor MB – [14/09/23]
“Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi is optimistic about the state’s potential to replicate the achievement by Shenzhen, becoming a thriving Special Economic Zone (SEZ) comparable to China’s third-largest city.
Onn Hafiz said Shenzhen, which transformed from a small fishing village into a high-tech international metropolis within four decades, is a testament to the possibilities which the state could achieve with the SEZ.
Its population skyrocketed from 300,000 to 17 million, surpassing Hong Kong with a GDP of nearly US$300 billion.”
2018
Iskandar set to become metropolis – [15/04/18]
“Development in Iskandar Malaysia will be the catalyst for turning the region into an international metropolis.”
2017
Johor govt backs inter-city rail transit project – [31/03/17]
“On Jan 19, 2011, Masteel announced that it had entered into a heads of joint venture agreement with KUB Malaysia Bhd to pursue the rail transit network project in the Iskandar Development Region.”
2015
KUB-Masteel JV hopes to submit RM1.23b inter-city rail plan to EC this year – [10/03/15]
“To recap, the proposed 100km-rail-system is to connect to Singapore’s Mass Rapid Transit line. It will have up to 25 commuter stations in major towns in Iskandar Malaysia. The operation will based on a 25-year concession.”
KUB-Masteel rail project partnership on track – [10/03/15]
Govt calling for more tenders for Iskandar Malaysia train system – [01/02/15]
“The multi-billion Ringgit project proposed by Metropolitan Commuter Network Sdn Bhd (MCN), is a 60:40 joint venture between Masteel and KUB.
In 2009, MCN had proposed to construct a 30km doublet-rack railway line linking Kulai and Johor Baru city centre, and a 50km link between Pasir Gudang and Port of Tanjung Pelepas using existing tracks.”
2011
Govt yet to finalise ICCT project for Iskandar – [02/05/11]
“Under the MCN’s proposal, it would build seven new stations along the route together with 16 halts and the train network to include a shuttle service from JB Sentral to Woodlands in Singapore.
He said the ICCT system would use the existing KTM railway track connecting Johor Baru, Kulai, Pasir Gudang and Tanjung Pelepas.
Abdul Ghani said that with the relocation of the railway station from Tanjung Pagar to Woodlands by July 1, 2011, Kempas Baru would be developed into an integrated transportation hub for Iskandar Malaysia.”
Johor MB approves Mastel-KUB RM1.23b intra-city commuter train service plan – [15/04/11]
“The commuter service would cover over 100km of rail network and serve all major upcoming Tipping Point developments such as the Johor Premium Outlet, Legoland Malaysia, Educity, Hi-Tech Park-Senai, and Lake Hill Resort City.”
Iskandar Malaysia mulls 500km MRT project – [13/04/11]
“The Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA) is pondering the viability of a 500km mass rapid transit (MRT) project in the sprawling development region which would provide a direct link to Johor Bahru.”
Masteel, KUB to jointly run inter-city rail transit system in Iskandar Malaysia – [21/01/11]
“The proposed inter-city rail transit will have up to 25 commuter stations in major towns in the Iskandar Malaysia economic corridor in the initial stage.
“We will use the existing Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) rail, and will add four new stations in the growth areas along KTM’s rail path,” said Masteel managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Seri Tai Hean Leng.”
Love it. Especially with the announcement today that they are considering passport free travel via the land border, it’s all the more imperative to build out a proper transit system.
For Skudai line, it shouldnt just ends at Skudai, it should be better extending to Pulai Indah thru UTM, Taman Universiti, Taman Teratai, Pulai Jaya and finally ends at Pulai Indah. Greatly appreciate if you could take my suggestion and amend the map. Because I am living in Taman Universiti and most of my neighbours are studying in UTM and that’s the only public university in Johor and it deserve to be in the map with a station.
Great article James, it’s true that JB is in dire need of upgrade on public transport with urban train system. Your concept was well thought of for sure and couldn’t be more excited to see it become reality. Singapore took years to build their train lines to current state. We’ll have to start somewhere soon!
Just want to point out that the LRT SKUDAI AND LRT TEBRAU line legend is incorrect (switched).
Thanks, hope to see a transit network develop in my lifetime!
I needed a fresh set of eyes to point out errors, so thanks for picking that up. Will get it updated.
On the Orange Line the Persada and Corination Square stations can be amalgated into one. The priximity to too close as one can walk. Likewise on gge Brown Line the Hospital Siltanah Aminah and Padang Sri Gelam should be only one station as its too close to each other.
On the Orange Line, the Persada and Coronation Square stations can be amalgated into one. The proximity is too close as one can walk. Likewise on the Brown Line the Hospital Sultanah Aminah and Padang Sri Gelam can be only one station due to proximity.
It would be great if you can extend the Skudai line all the way until Taman Tun aminah (preferably near Sutera Mall) and Taman Universiti and Kangkar Pulai.
Also, it would be greatly beneficial if you can extend/branching the brown line or blue line all the way to west until Pekan Nenas, Pontian and Kukup.