RTS Link Route Map: Bukit Chagar to Woodlands North

Summary

• Two stations, one hop. The RTS Link runs from Bukit Chagar in Johor Bahru to Woodlands North in Singapore — a 4 km crossing of about five minutes over the Straits of Johor.
• On track to open by January 2027. That is the current target in project communications.
• You clear immigration once. Both countries' checkpoints sit inside the departure station, so you clear on the way out and walk straight off at the other end.
• Woodlands North feeds the Thomson-East Coast Line. Step off and tap onto the TEL for the rest of Singapore.
• Up to 10,000 riders an hour each direction at peak — the causeway crawl replaced by a five-minute shuttle.
• See what a home 300 m from Bukit Chagar costs a month →

The RTS Link in one line

Forget a sprawling metro map. The whole RTS Link is two stations and a single 4 km leg: Bukit Chagar on the Johor Bahru side and Woodlands North on the Singapore side, joined by a shuttle that crosses the Straits of Johor in about five minutes (MRT Corp, accessed 14 August 2026). No stops in between, no line change to make the crossing — you board at one end and get off at the other.

The full route map: Bukit Chagar to Woodlands North

The map shows the two ends and the water between them. From Bukit Chagar the track rises onto an elevated viaduct, crosses the strait beside the existing Causeway, and drops into Woodlands North underground on the Singapore side. It is a point-to-point shuttle, not a branch of any existing line — which is why the journey is so short, and why one address next to Bukit Chagar sits a single ride from Singapore's rail network.

The route at a glance

Here is the whole journey, start to finish:

1. Board at Bukit Chagar (Johor Bahru). Clear both countries' immigration here, before you travel.
2. Cross the Straits of Johor. About five minutes on the elevated shuttle, beside the Causeway.
3. Arrive at Woodlands North (Singapore). Walk straight out — you have already cleared immigration.
4. Transfer to the Thomson-East Coast Line. Woodlands North is the TEL terminus (TE1); tap in for the rest of Singapore.

Bukit Chagar: the Johor Bahru end

Bukit Chagar is more than a platform. It is an integrated immigration, customs and quarantine complex with, under current plans, 100 immigration e-gate lanes to keep the queue moving (The Star, accessed 14 August 2026). It sits in the middle of central JB — next to JB Sentral and the KTM link, steps from SKS City Mall, and a measured 300 m from SkyOne. For anyone living beside it, the station is a walk, not a drive. See where the nearest homes sit in the guide to condos near the RTS.

Woodlands North: the Singapore end

On the Singapore side, Woodlands North is built underground and connects directly to the Thomson-East Coast Line at the same station (TE1) through an underground concourse (LTA, accessed 14 August 2026). The TEL runs down through Woodlands, Caldecott and Orchard toward the city and Marina Bay, so the RTS drops you onto the network that reaches most Singapore workplaces. For the onward legs and journey times, see how the RTS gets you into Singapore after Woodlands North.

How you actually ride it

The design goal is one clearance, one ride. Because both countries co-locate their checkpoints at the departure station, you clear immigration only once — on the way out — and step off at the far end without queueing again (Ministry of Home Affairs, accessed 14 August 2026). At peak the line is built to carry up to 10,000 passengers an hour in each direction, so it absorbs commuter volumes the Causeway cannot. Fares and exact operating hours have not been published yet; when they are, the full RTS Link guide carries them.

Is it really opening in 2027?

Short version: yes, that is the plan. Project communications put passenger service on track for January 2027, with construction past the main civil works and into systems testing (Malay Mail, 3 April 2026). For the milestone-by-milestone status and what still has to happen, follow the RTS Link construction progress tracker.

What a station 300 m from your door is worth

Distance to the line is the whole game. When the RTS opens, the gap between a 300 m walk and a 3 km drive-and-park is the gap between rolling out at 7:30 and still clocking in across the border, or hunting for a parking bay every morning. SkyOne sits 300 m from Bukit Chagar, it is freehold, and entry units start from around RM628,000 — below the RM1 million floor that applies to foreign buyers, so Malaysians buy as locals. Completion is filed for November 2030, lining the handover up with a line that is already running.

Buy near Bukit Chagar before the line opens

Prices near a station tend to move once the trains actually run, not before. Buying now, as a Malaysian, means the local price, full financing, and time for the address to do its work. Run the numbers on the installment calculator to see which SkyOne layout puts you 300 m from the Bukit Chagar platform for a monthly figure that fits your budget.