Singapore-Malaysia land VTL: Up to 3,000 travellers allowed daily in 1st phase, via designated buses

• Singapore and Malaysia will launch a vaccinated travel lane for their land borders on Nov 29 via the Causeway
• In the first phase, only travellers who are citizens, permanent residents or long-term pass holders of the country they are entering are allowed
• There is a quota of 3,000 travellers allowed to enter and leave Singapore via 64 designated daily bus trips
• The scheme could be expanded, with weekly increments in the number of travellers allowed

SINGAPORE — Singapore and Malaysia will launch a vaccinated travel lane (VTL) by land on Monday (Nov 29) via the Causeway, but under the first phase of the scheme, travellers must be citizens, permanent residents or long-term pass holders of the country that they are entering.

Singapore's Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement on Wednesday that this is to give priority to those who have been working in either country to visit their families.

There will be a daily quota of about 3,000 travellers allowed to enter and leave Singapore via this arrangement, which will have 64 daily designated bus trips. Travellers need not serve quarantine.

In a separate statement, Malaysia's Prime Minister's Office said that there will be weekly increments to the number of travellers allowed under this travel lane.

For a start, there will be two designated bus operators, each of which will make 16 trips from Malaysia to Singapore and 16 trips from Singapore to Malaysia daily.

They will ply between Larkin Sentral Bus Terminal in Johor Baru and the Woodlands Temporary Bus Interchange or the Queen Street Terminal in Singapore.

Each bus will be allowed to carry up to 45 passengers.

Bus tickets will go on sale from 8am on Thursday and passengers are required to buy their tickets at least three days before the departure date.

Adult bus tickets cost S$15 from Singapore to Malaysia and RM20 (S$6.50) from Malaysia to Singapore. Tickets for children cost S$8 and RM10.

Travellers entering Malaysia must first register at https://mysafetravel.gov.my.

They must also test negative in a pre-departure Covid-19 antigen rapid test or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test in Singapore, and then in another supervised on-arrival antigen rapid test at Larkin Sentral Bus Terminal after clearing immigration.

Travellers entering Singapore must test negative in a valid pre-departure antigen rapid test or PCR test within two days before leaving for Singapore. There is no on-arrival test requirement here.

Singapore and Malaysia aim to progressively expand this land travel scheme to include more travellers, including general travellers, taking into account the public health situation, PMO said.

After that, it will also work towards restoring travel through the other land border at Tuas Second Link, PMO added.

In the statement, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said: “The Causeway was one of the busiest land borders in the world before the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted our cross-border activities. The launch of (this lane) is a big step towards reconnecting our people and economies and will further enhance our bilateral relationship.”

Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong said last week that the launch of this land border arrangement could be close to or on the same day as the launch of the travel lane for flights between Changi Airport and Kuala Lumpur International Airport, which starts on Nov 29.

In the PMO statement, Mr Gan noted that many workers from both countries have not been able to see their families for many months.

“We are starting (this) in a safe and calibrated manner, so that we can progress smoothly,” he said.

“We seek the understanding of workers who may not be able to purchase a bus ticket to travel home immediately due to limited capacity in the initial phase of the launch. We will continue to work with Malaysia to expand (this) arrangement to more travellers in the coming weeks.”

ENTERING SINGAPORE: HOW IT WILL WORK

All travellers entering Singapore under the land border travel scheme must comply with the following requirements.

Eligibility of travellers

• The traveller must be a Singapore citizen, permanent resident or a holder of a Singapore-issued long-term pass such as a work permit, employment pass, student’s pass or long-term visit pass
• Holders of a Singapore-issued long-term pass must apply for a vaccinated travel pass via the Safe Travel Office website at least three days before arrival. Singapore citizens and permanent residents need not do so
• In-principle-approval holders of a Singapore-issued long-term pass and foreign short-term visitors are not eligible to travel under this arrangement for now

Travel history

Travellers must have remained in Malaysia, in any other travel lane or Category I country or region as recognised by the Singapore Government, and/or in Singapore in the last 14 consecutive days before arrival here.

Testing

• Travellers must test negative in a valid pre-departure Covid-19 antigen rapid test or PCR test within two days before departure for Singapore, taken at a laboratory or centre that is accredited or recognised by the Malaysian Ministry of Health
• Children aged two years and below are not required to undergo these tests

Vaccination

• All travellers on this arrangement must have been fully vaccinated and present a digital proof of vaccination that is recognised by the Singapore authorities, issued in any country under the travel scheme or in Singapore. They may access their vaccination certificate via Notarise portal or HealthHub and TraceTogether mobile applications if vaccinated in Singapore, or the MySejahtera app if vaccinated in Malaysia
• Unvaccinated travellers who are aged 12 and below can travel to Singapore if accompanied by a fully vaccinated traveller
• Singapore citizens, permanent residents and long-term pass holders who have been vaccinated overseas and issued with a foreign digital vaccination certificate outside of Singapore should upload the certificate in the electronic health declaration card via the electronic SG Arrival Card before coming here 
• Travellers who have recovered from Covid-19 will be assessed on a case-by-case basis via appeal

Designated bus services

• Travellers under this scheme must arrive by the designated bus services. Those who arrive by other means such as private transport or walking across the Causeway will be subjected to prevailing border controls, which include serving a seven-day stay-home notice
• There are two designated bus companies
• Singapore operator Transtar Travel will operate 32 daily designated trips (16 trips from Malaysia to Singapore and 16 the other way) between Woodlands Temporary Bus Interchange in Singapore and Larkin Sentral Bus Terminal in Johor Baru
• Malaysia operator Handal Indah (also known as Causeway Link) will similarly operate 32 daily trips between Larkin Sentral Bus Terminal in Johor Baru and Queen Street Terminal in Singapore
• Buses travelling from Malaysia to Singapore will run from 9.30am to 7.30pm
• Buses travelling from Singapore to Malaysia will run daily from 8am to 6pm
• Bus tickets will go on sale on Thursday at 8am and the tickets will be released for sale 30 days ahead
• Travellers must buy their tickets at least three days before departure date

Submission of SG Arrival Card

• All travellers are required to submit the SG Arrival Card with Electronic Health Declaration via the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority website (https://go.gov.sg/sgarrivalcard) or through the SG Arrival Card app. This must be done within three days before arrival
• Travellers should buy their bus tickets and have the necessary documents ready before they depart for Singapore. Document verification will be done before they board the designated buses

CLARIFICATION: An earlier version of this report said that the designated buses will run from 7.30am to 9.30pm daily. Singapore’s authorities have clarified that buses travelling from Malaysia to Singapore will run daily from 9.30am to 7.30pm, and for Singapore to Malaysia, 8am to 6pm.