PUBLISHED ONSeptember 04, 2025 4:31 AMBYSean LerPublic bus companies SBS Transit (SBST) and SMRT have announced that they will be operating cross-border bus services from Johor Bahru 10 minutes earlier from Sept 15 onwards.
In separate statements released on Thursday (Sept 4), both SBST and SMRT said that their respective services will be brought forward to start at 4.50am on weekdays, excluding public holidays.
A Land Transport Authority (LTA) spokesperson also confirmed this with AsiaOne on Sept 4.
SBST currently operates service 160 from Johor Bahru Checkpoint, with departures starting at 5am on weekdays and 5.50am on weekends or public holidays.
SMRT's service 950 also operates from Johor Bahru Checkpoint with the same departure time, but only on weekdays.
Additionally, SBST operates service 170 between Larkin Terminal in Johor Bahru and Queen Street Terminal near Jalan Besar, with departures from Johor Bahru Checkpoint starting from 5.20am on weekdays and 5.30am on weekends or public holidays.
A supplementary service, 170X, plies only a section of its parent route, with the first bus leaving Johor Bahru at 8.28am.
All four services — SBST's 160, 170, 170X, and SMRT's 950 — will start departures at 4.50am from Sept 15 onwards.
AsiaOne understands that private bus operators such as the Singapore-Johor Express are not part of this earlier service commencement move for now.
In July, Malaysian media outlet The Star reported Johor state Works, Transportation, Infrastructure and Communication Committee chairman Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh as saying that long queues of Singapore-bound passengers would form at the Johor Bahru Checkpoint at 4am. He expressed hope that an earlier start time would tackle the pre-dawn rush.
The same month, LTA told The Straits Times that it received a request from Malaysia's Land Public Transport Agency on June 17 to start operating cross-border bus services earlier, adding that it is working with bus operators to review the request.
A private bus operator staff member whom AsiaOne spoke to said that while an earlier start time of 10 minutes may not seem like much to passengers, there are manpower and logistical challenges to overcome.
He cited the need for additional drivers, including relief drivers, and technicians to support the earlier and longer operating hours.
Once fully operational by December 2026, commuters will have another option with the 4km-long Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit Systems (RTS) shuttle train service.
The service will run between Singapore's Woodlands North station and Johor Bahru's Bukit Changar station and is expected to operate daily from 6am to midnight, with a peak frequency of 3.6 minutes.
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