SINGAPORE: From Sept 15, the first buses leaving the Johor Baru checkpoint for Woodlands on weekdays will start their services earlier at 4.50am, to help tackle early morning traffic at the Causeway.
These services include the SMRT-operated service 950 bound for Woodlands, as well as services 160, 170 and 170X run by SBS Transit.
The adjusted times will be 10 minutes earlier than the current start time of 5am on weekdays, said the two transport operators.
On public holidays and weekends, the three bus services will continue to depart the JB Checkpoint from 5am.
The change comes after Malaysian media reported that Malaysia’s Land Public Transport Agency had requested that cross-border bus services start at 4am.
Singapore’s Land Transport Authority previously said it was reviewing the request along with Singapore bus operators.
Service 950 operates between Woodlands Temporary Bus Interchange and JB Sentral.
Service 160 operates between Jurong Town Hall and the JB Sentral bus terminal, while service 170 runs between Larkin Terminal in Johor Bahru and Queen Street Terminal near Jalan Besar.
170X plies a shorter route, operating between Kranji MRT station and JB Sentral.
Besides these three services, the other cross-border bus services are the Causeway Link fleet of services, as well as the privately operated AC7 and Singapore-Johore Express.
The Causeway Link fleet of buses start from various locations in Johor, with the first CW1 buses leaving the Johor checkpoint at 4am.
Johor state official Fazli Salleh had also appealed for an earlier start time for Singapore’s cross-border bus services to tackle the early morning rush, with snaking queues of Singapore-bound passengers forming at the JB checkpoint as early as 4am.
The upcoming Johor Baru-Singapore Rapid Transit System Link is set to run from 6am to midnight daily when it starts passenger services by the end of 2026. - The Straits Times/ANN
