News

Land VTL Starts Off Pretty Uneventfully Except for a Bus Delay from JB to S’pore So Far

2021-11-29 , 10:43 am

During the circuit breaker and other periods of tightened restrictions, residents here have been separated from some of their family members, unable to visit them even though they live no further than an hour away.

We’ve tried to bridge this emotional gap by speaking to them over video call, but it’s just not the same.

While we’ve been grumbling about this distance, which has never lasted more than a few months, some Singaporeans and Malaysians have been separated for nearly two years thanks to border restrictions.

Fortunately, they can now be reunited.

Land VTL Starts Off Uneventfully So Far As Families Can Finally Be Reunited

The emergence of the Omicron variant has not affected our land VTL plans with Malaysia as 1,440 people in Singapore are expected to cross the border to Malaysia today.

Pertaining to boarding, there have been no issues so far, except when one woman was denied boarding because she’s not a Malaysian long-term pass holder.

Only citizens, permanent residents, and long-term pass holders of the country they are entering can cross the border now under the land VTL. Travel may be expanded to other groups later on, depending on the COVID-19 situation in both countries.

Many Slots Sold Out

A quick look through Transtar Travel’s Facebook account shows that many of the available dates for open slots to and from Malaysia have been sold out.

Unsurprisingly, 25 Dec – Christmas – was one of those dates.

The first bus leaves Woodlands Temporary Bus Interchange at 8am in the morning, with subsequent buses coming at 40-minute intervals.

Transtar Travel is one of the two appointed bus operators that will ferry travellers between Malaysia and Singapore, 45 passengers at a time.

The other is Handal Indah, a Malaysian bus company also known as Causeway Link. Together, the two operators will run 64 daily VTL bus trips between the countries.

Bus Delayed Due to Event Held at Causeway

According to CNA, there was a three-hour delay for those travelling by bus from Johor to Singapore.

The bus was supposed to leave at 9:30am, but passengers have been told that they may have to wait until noon for it to depart.

This is due to “an event held at the Causeway”.

Airline Passengers Treated to Water Salute

VTL-designated flights between the two countries have also been launched today, allowing fully vaccinated travellers to visit either country without having to quarantine.

A CNA journalist who travelled to Kuala Lumpur on Singapore Airlines reported that passengers were treated to a water salute as they arrived at KL’s international airport.

And here's the surprise the pilot was talking about – a water cannon welcome for the first @SingaporeAir VTL flight into KLIA!

Safe to say, judging from the applause, the passengers were pretty happy about it!#SingaporeMalaysiaVTL https://t.co/wOxDPNjMpk pic.twitter.com/qHpyGB5PUa

— Jeraldine Yap (@JeraldineYapCNA) November 29, 2021

SQ108 first VTL flight to land at #KLIA. 240 passengers on board. Flight was greeted with a water cannon salute. https://t.co/BLj7a8WeUg #SingaporeMalaysiaVTL pic.twitter.com/SeydVqZzU5

— Afifah Ariffin (@AfifahCNA) November 29, 2021

Compulsory On-arrival Testing Due to Emergence of Omicron

The emergence of the Omicron variant did force the authorities to make at least one change to the current VTL rules, as travellers arriving in either Malaysia or Singapore under the arrangement will be required to take an on-arrival antigen rapid test (ART).

The new testing requirement took effect from 8am today.

For incoming travellers, the ART will be conducted at the Woodlands Temporary Bus Interchange and Queen Street Terminal. Payment will be made at these testing centres.