Getting Around JB: RTS, KTM ETS & Transport 2026

Summary

• One walkable hub. JB Sentral and the new Bukit Chagar RTS station sit side by side — a single transport node that puts trains to Singapore, trains to KL, buses and the highways within a few minutes' reach.
• To Singapore — the RTS Link, from early 2027. The Bukit Chagar–Woodlands North crossing is a roughly 5-minute ride; construction passed 90% by mid-2026 and passenger service is targeted for the start of 2027.
• To Kuala Lumpur — the KTM ETS. A direct electric train from JB Sentral to KL Sentral has run since December 2025, taking roughly 4.5 hours.
• For now — the Shuttle Tebrau. The 5-minute KTM shuttle to Woodlands still runs daily until the RTS Link takes over.
• No car needed. Living at the node means most cross-border and intercity trips start on foot.
• Estimate the monthly cost of living here →

Transport details below were verified in June 2026 against official operator and authority sources. Opening dates and schedules can shift — check the operator before you travel.

JB Sentral and Bukit Chagar: one node, everything from it

Getting around Johor Bahru without a car is far easier than it used to be, and almost all of it radiates from a single point: the JB Sentral transport hub beside the city's CIQ checkpoint, now joined by the new Bukit Chagar RTS station right next door. From this one node you can board a train to Singapore, a train to Kuala Lumpur, cross-border and city buses, and reach the expressways out of town. For a resident, the question is no longer "how do I drive there" but "how few minutes is it on foot to the platform." For property right beside it, see condos near the RTS.

To Singapore: the RTS Link (from early 2027)

The Johor Bahru–Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link is the headline change. It connects Bukit Chagar in JB to Woodlands North on Singapore's Thomson–East Coast MRT Line across a dedicated 4 km twin-track viaduct over the Strait of Johor. Key facts, as of June 2026:

• Journey time: about 5 minutes station to station.
• Opening: targeted for the start of 2027; construction had passed 90% by April–May 2026, with system trials underway since late 2025.
• Frequency: trains roughly every 3.6 minutes at peak, with capacity for up to 10,000 passengers per hour each way.
• Expected demand: around 40,000 riders a day at launch, designed to scale toward roughly 140,000.

Crucially, the RTS Link lets you clear both countries' immigration once, inside the stations — no queueing on the Causeway in traffic. Sources: the RTS Link project overview and the Singapore LTA (accessed June 2026). For the full breakdown of stations, fares and immigration, read our complete RTS Link guide.

Until the RTS opens: the Shuttle Tebrau and Causeway buses

Today the fastest train across is the KTM Shuttle Tebrau, a 5-minute hop between JB Sentral and Woodlands in Singapore, running about 31 services a day at roughly RM5 from the JB side. It is expected to wind down within months of the RTS Link opening, so treat it as the bridge until 2027. Alongside it, cross-border buses (such as the Causeway Link services) run from JB Sentral and the CIQ through both checkpoints — cheaper and frequent, but subject to Causeway traffic. For how the checkpoints themselves work, see our JB–Singapore CIQ guide.

To Kuala Lumpur: the KTM ETS

Since December 2025, KTMB has run a direct Electric Train Service (ETS) from JB Sentral to KL Sentral — the first time you can ride the electric intercity line the whole way without changing trains in Gemas. The journey takes roughly 4.5 hours (about 4h10m–4h40m depending on the service class), with several daily departures that have been expanding through 2026. It is a comfortable, fixed-price alternative to driving the highway run or flying. Check live timings and fares on the official KTMB ETS timetable.

Around Johor Bahru: buses, highways and what's walkable

For trips within the city and the wider state, Causeway Link operates an extensive network of city and regional bus routes, many calling at or near JB Sentral. If you do drive, the node connects straight onto the Eastern Dispersal Link (EDL), which feeds the North–South Expressway (PLUS) — the spine running the length of Peninsular Malaysia toward KL and Penang. And because the city centre, CIQ, the malls and the waterfront cluster tightly around this district, a great deal is simply walkable: from a home at the node you can reach the checkpoint, a shopping mall and a hotel on foot.

What this means for where you live

Transport access is only valuable if you live at the point it radiates from. A home within a few hundred metres of Bukit Chagar / JB Sentral turns every option above into a short walk rather than a drive-and-park exercise — the RTS to a Singapore job, the ETS to family in KL, a bus to the next town, the highway for a weekend away. That is the practical case for buying at the node rather than in the suburbs, and it is a particularly strong one for Malaysians, who buy here as locals: full financing, no foreign-buyer price floor, and the everyday convenience of a car-optional life. To see what a unit at the node would cost monthly, use our installment calculator.

The bottom line

By 2027, Johor Bahru's JB Sentral / Bukit Chagar node will let you reach Singapore in about five minutes and Kuala Lumpur in around four and a half hours — both on rail, both starting on foot — with buses and the expressway filling every gap in between. For a resident, that is the difference between needing a car and choosing whether to own one. Living right at that node is the whole point.