Singapore, Malaysia test RTS Link emergency response

At a closing ceremony for the exercise on Oct 28, Singapore’s Second Minister for Home Affairs Sim Ann said: “Today’s exercise is not an end point. It is one milestone in a continuing journey for agencies from both our countries.”

The ceremony at the Wadi Hana depot was also attended by Malaysian Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.

The RTS Link, with a capacity of more than 600 passengers per train, connects Singapore’s Woodlands North station to Bukit Chagar in Johor Bahru, a ride that will take about five minutes.

Saifuddin said the RTS Link is on track for its scheduled launch in February 2027.

“From now, aside from incident or crisis preparedness, other preparations are progressing on schedule,” he said, adding that he had also inspected Malaysian immigration systems, autogates and scanners at the Bukit Chagar station.

The drill involved the Royal Malaysia Police, the Malaysia Border Control and Protection Agency, the Fire and Rescue Department, the Malaysian Armed Forces and the Ministry of Health. Singapore agencies included the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority, the Singapore Police Force and the Singapore Civil Defence Force.

Singapore and Malaysia also enacted the necessary domestic laws in 2026 to allow security agencies to handle incidents that may occur at the RTS Link. These include Singapore’s Cross-Border Railways (Border Control Co-location) Act, which came into effect on Sept 30, and Malaysia’s Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link Act, which was gazetted on June 26.

Under these new laws, officers from each country are granted reciprocal powers and legal protections to perform Customs, immigration and security screenings on foreign soil.

They also set clear emergency rules that allow security teams to respond to incidents along the RTS Link.

Given that each train carries more than 600 passengers at short intervals across international borders, Sim highlighted that any disruption could swiftly impact large numbers of passengers navigating two separate legal and operational frameworks.

She noted that key positive outcomes from the drill included real-time communication between border agencies, rapid deployment from both sides, and clear incident command structures where personnel understood their respective duties.

“Responding to an incident on board a moving cross-border train will therefore require swift information-sharing and coordination between agencies from both countries so that collectively we can deliver a coherent response to ensure the safety of passengers,” she said.

Preparations for the field training exercise spanned eight months, beginning in March, and included a national tabletop exercise on Aug 19 and 20 and a bilateral tabletop session with Singapore on Sept 28 and 29, said Saifuddin.

“Throughout that period, various scenarios have been tested, and assessments from observers and assessors confirm that both the tabletop and field exercises were a success,” he said.

“It is important that exercises of this scale take place before official RTS operations commence.

“This allows us to resolve operational challenges and test the effectiveness of joint Malaysia-Singapore Standard Operating Procedures for cross-border incidents.”