KULAI, Johor – Commuters can now travel by rail between Johor Bahru and the nearby towns of Pasir Gudang and Kulai on a new train service launched on June 16.
The Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) Shuttle Selatan, running on train tracks previously used only for freight, links commuters from JB Sentral to the two urban centres. The Kulai district is home to key destinations such as Senai Airport and Johor Premium Outlets.
At the train line’s launch, Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke said Shuttle Selatan will benefit two million residents in Kulai and Pasir Gudang, including those working in Singapore. The service cuts their travel time to JB Sentral – where they can catch a shuttle train or bus to Singapore – to just 30 minutes, compared with an hour by car.
“Johor is a state that is fast developing and the need for public transport is increasingly important to link the city centre to towns and to industrial areas,” he said.
“In the context of developing the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ), a public transport system that is efficient and reliable is among the top factors for supporting economic growth, attracting investment and to produce more work opportunities in the country’s southern region,” he added.
There are currently two routes on the network, served by four stops. From the JB Sentral terminus, passengers can travel directly to Kulai. To get to Pasir Gudang, however, they would have to change trains at Kempas Baru interchange.
The JB Sentral-Kulai route operates five daily trips each way, while the Kempas Baru-Pasir Gudang route offers two daily trips each way.
Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke (centre) flagging off the first KTM Shuttle Selatan commuter train at Kulai Railway Station on June 16.
ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG
Tickets for the Shuttle Selatan are available on the KTM website with prices starting at RM7 (S$2.20).
Loke said more stops will be added to the Kulai route covering the inland districts of Paloh, Kluang, Renggam and Layang-Layang in two to three years.
On the Pasir Gudang route, the authorities plan to add Bandar Baru Sri Alam, Taman Daya and Pasir Putih.
The routes are served by repurposed electric train cabins pulled by a diesel locomotive.
Loke said these repurposed trains are a temporary measure before 10 new electric train sets, which the ministry has procured for RM200 million, arrive in about two to three years.
Retired couple Chew Ah Moi and Siow Kui Onn, who were among the Shuttle Selatan’s first passengers heading to Kempas Baru from Kulai, told The Straits Times that they are impressed by the service despite sitting in older train cabins.
“Nowadays taking the car to JB is getting too congested, we’d rather take the train,” said 74-year-old Chew.
Commuters riding Johor’s first commuter train service from Kempas Baru to Kulai on June 16.
ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG
Kulai businessman Chee Kwee Long told ST that taking the train is also safer than driving, since the highway from Kulai to JB “has too many cars and trucks”.
The Shuttle Selatan follows the launch of the Electric Train Service in December 2025 linking Johor Bahru to Kuala Lumpur in around 4½ hours.
It is part of the Johor state’s plan to reduce traffic congestion ahead of the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link, which is slated to begin operations in 2027. The RTS Link is expected to bring in crowds of 10,000 people an hour.
At the launch event, Johor’s caretaker Menteri Besar Onn Hafiz Ghazi urged the federal government to implement the state’s elevated autonomous rapid transit (ART) project as soon as possible to help disperse the crowd once the RTS begins operations.
The ART, an elevated, driverless tram-bus network, is expected to help disperse the commuter crowd using the RTS.
Johor’s caretaker Menteri Besar Onn Hafiz Ghazi (left) and Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke at the launch of the KTM Shuttle Selatan, on June 16.
ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG
Onn Hafiz noted that the state government has already done its part to reduce congestion by expanding a park-and-ride scheme, enhancing bus, taxi and e-hailing services in the city and implementing smart traffic lights.
“These short- and medium-term measures had to be implemented because the main (ART) project that can help disperse the crowd from the RTS, had not started,” Onn Hafiz said.
“I was told that the ART proposal was tabled in Cabinet in the year 2024; it’s been close to two years,” he said.
“I am worried that when the RTS is ready, the main mode of public transport to disperse will only be ready by 2030 or 2031,” he added.
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