Singapore to resume cross-border bus and taxi services to Malaysia from May 1, 2022

 

The decision comes a month after land borders between the two countries reopened fully for vaccinated travellers. - The Straits Times/ANN

SINGAPORE, April 23 (Bernama): Singapore will resume cross-border bus and taxi services from May 1, 2022, following the reopening of the republic and Malaysia land borders for fully vaccinated travellers recently, announced its Multi Ministry Taskforce (MTF) on Covid-19.

"When we resumed travel by private transport across Singapore and Malaysia land borders at the beginning of this month we had said that we would progressively allow more transport modes,” said MTF’s co-chair Gan Kim Yong at a virtual press conference today.

Thus, Gan, who is also the republic’s Trade and Industry Minister, said the republic will reinstate both cross-border services between Singapore and Johor Bahru.

Separately, the republic’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) said the cross-border bus services would include Services 160, 170 and 170X operated by SBS Transit Ltd, Service 950 operated by SMRT Buses Ltd, and Services TS1, TS3, TS6 and TS8 operated by Transtar Travel Pte Ltd.

These services have not been operating since March 2020, it said in a statement.

The operating hours of Services 160, 170, 170X and 950 will be the same as pre-Covid where it operates between 5.20am and 12.30am with similar frequency.

On cross-border taxi services, LTA said it is also working closely with its Malaysia counterpart Agensi Pengangkutan Awam Darat (APAD).

"Commuters travelling to Johor can either board a taxi at the Queen Street taxi terminal or book one through taxi companies with licensed cross-border taxi drivers,” it said.

It noted that with the resumption of cross-border bus services, the existing Vaccinated Travel Bus Services operated by Transtar Travel Pte Ltd and Handal Indah Sdn Bhd will cease on May 1, 2022.

More than 1.2 million people crossed the land borders between Singapore and Malaysia in the first two weeks of these borders reopening fully.

Over the Good Friday weekend last week, another 436,800 travellers passed through the land checkpoints at the Causeway in Woodlands and the Second Link in Tuas.

Before the pandemic, about 415,000 people used the Causeway and Second Link daily.

The Causeway was one of the world's busiest land crossings. - Bernama