Kuala Lumpur To Singapore by Bus – An Eventful Experience!

After an incredible three months based in Kuala Lumpur, and exploring Malaysia, it was time to head back to Singapore. I had a great experience getting the bus from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, so I decided to save the airfare and do the same journey back. I, however, ended up having one of the worst travel experiences of my life and wanted to warn people of the BillionStars bus company. In short, DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. In full, read on.

Terminal Bersepadu Selatan Station (TBS)

I decided to depart from TBS station, as I thought it’d be easier than choosing Berjaya Times Square bus station, where you wait for buses on the roadside. After getting a Grab and leaving early, 10:55am, I arrived at TBS. I queued for 15 mins for the ticket with the exact 55 RM cash for a ticket, only to discover there was a service fee of 55cent which I didn’t have. The ticket counters and machines only take cash. So I ended up buying the ticket online. Huge waste of time.

Quickly went to the bathroom and grabbed some snacks before heading to Gate 18. The bus was due at 11:45 so I had plenty of time to wait at the gate. And wait I did, as the bus didn’t arrive until 1pm!!! No updates from the staff or any idea as to how long we’d be waiting, so it was an incredibly frustrating experience for everyone at the gate. The bus eventually arrived, we scanned tickets and put our suitcases under the bus.

Departing From TBS Station

Eventually at 1:10pm we departed TBS. After explicitly being told this was a direct bus to Singapore, with no drop offs or pick ups, we were shocked to arrive at Berjaya Times Square at 1:30pm. We were now literally 5 mins from where my accommodation was…so I had moved a matter of miles in the space of 3hrs 15 mins. We were all quite confused why we had stopped here. I was glad this wasn’t my original stop, as it was road side pick up and chaotic. I would have been even more stressed waiting for a delayed bus here compared to the actual train station.

After changing drivers, we departed Berjaya Times Square at 1:41pm. By 1:57pm, we depressingly passed TBS again…nearly 4 hours after leaving my accommodation. I had expected to be half way through Malaysia by this point.

First Bathroom Break

We made our first bathroom stop at 14:33 at a petrol station. We were told we only had 10 minutes here to use the toilets and get snacks. With just one toilet, the queue was extremely long for the women’s bathroom. I was worried about being left behind so I decided to hold on and hope we would stop again. The petrol station shop only supplied junk food so I skipped that as well.

I’m glad I decided to skip the bathroom as the driver didn’t do a head count! He just got back on the bus and drove off. We were on our way at 14:42pm. For the next hour we crawled through traffic, passing the Malacca turnoff at 4:30pm.

Second Bathroom Break

At 5:50pm we had our second bathroom stop. Luckily this stop had lots of toilets and street food options. I raced to the bathroom, grabbed a few cold drinks and some curry puffs (I became obsessed with these during my trip!). We left 10 mins later. I got chatting to a few of my bus mates and everyone was quite shocked how disorganised the journey seemed to be. This included a guy who makes the journey between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore every month.

Third Bathroom Break

After a few hours of driving, we stopped at another petrol station at 8pm. Everyone seemed very frustrated with how long the journey was taking. I was exhausted, dreading all the border crossings and navigating Singapore to my accommodation. I was also stressing about my accommodation check in…I had said 7pm arrival. Without phone data, I couldn’t alert the hotel I’d be so late and hoped I could check-in ok. We departed at 8:20pm.

At 8:30 we did our first drop off, with people getting out somewhere random near Johor Bahru. Again, this was very frustrating as I’d been told it was a direct journey with no drop offs. We did a second drop off at Lakin bus station at 8:55pm.

We spent the next 15 mins faffing around here – the bus was only allowed 5 minute parking slots. So the driver kept reversing and re-parking to restart the parking countdown.

At 9:10pm the driver announced we’d be changing bus and to wait by the road. We all got out and waited whilst the driver took photos of us and asked other drivers if they had space. Very bizarre. By 9:20 another driver announced he had an empty bus, so the 6 of us followed and boarded. I had so many bags so it was difficult being moved around a lot. We drove for 10 minutes to another petrol station before being told to get out and into another bus – 9:30pm!!!

We sat here for 15 mins whilst the driver walked off, leaving the door open and strong petrol fumes coming inside – we all had headaches and were done with this experience. No one explained what was happening, how long we’d be waiting for or if we had to change bus AGAIN. Genuinely the worst bus journey I’ve ever taken.

By now, it was 11 hours since leaving my AirBNB – my phone was dying and we were at least an hour away from drop off in Singapore.

We finally left the petrol station at 9:52pm and were on our way to immigration! I was nervous as I didn’t have proof of onward journey for Singapore. Just my main flight home to the UK in July. The roads were surprisingly busy at this time. The saving grace of being in a bus meant we got a fast lane on the approach to immigration, whilst cars sat in a pile up of traffic.

Malaysian Immigration

Reaching the Malaysian immigration at 10:17, we had a very short queue. I was heavily questioned as to why I was in Malaysia, why I was going to Singapore etc. lots of questions regarding onward journeys and if I planned on entering Malaysia again. By 10:30pm, I was back on the bus. I was so grateful to my amazing bus mates who waited for me at immigration to find the bus together. I had told them I was very anxious about not being able to find the bus after, and given I have a UK passport, I had to go in a separate section to them. Their Singapore and Malaysian passports qualified for a quicker check in section. But they very kindly still waited for me.

We left the Malaysian Immigration at 10:40 and were at the Woodlands checkpoint within minutes.

Woodlands Checkpoint (Singapore Immigration)

The Woodlands checkpoint was very empty and we were through immigration in minutes. Love Singapore’s efficiency!

The next saga of the evening was our bus not returning to pick us up. The 6 of us waited for 30 minutes at the bus collection point and he never showed. The buses driver through their own checks and then wait amongst the other buses. We decided to split, with some of us checking each bus and others waiting at the bus entrance. He never showed. After speaking to 5-6 other bus drivers, they confirmed this was the only meeting point and that the Billionstar Bus was a shambles. All said they weren’t to be trusted.

In despair, we gave up on our original bus ever showing and asked other drivers for help. We found one kind driver who had space for the 6 of us.

He charged us $3 SGD each for the journey. dropped off near Bugis MRT. I was just so happy and relived to be on a bus again. Interestingly this driver also laughed when we told him we were left my our BillionStar bus. Calling them the ‘cowboys’ of the Malaysia to Singapore route. We left at 11:22pm exhausted but happy to be nearing the end.

Finally Arriving in Singapore

At 11:46pm, we got dropped off 800 meters from Bugis MRT and ran to try catch the last train. After running with all our bags, we managed to catch the last MRT train to Expo by a minute!!! Absolute miracle!

I’m so, so grateful to the amazing bus mates who made this journey remotely bearable and who helped during immigration. I bizarrely bumped into one of them two weeks later and we swapped instagrams and relived the nightmare journey!

I made it to my accommodation just after 12:45am on Sunday…14.5 hours after leaving Malaysia – I could have flown back home to London in that time.

If I had known the journey was going to be that long and horrendous, I would have just gone by air. The journey from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur with CityLine had been so quick and easy, so I’d thought I’d try it again. After speaking to a few people it sounds like this is a common theme with the bus company we used. I’ve never been one to write negative reviews, or waste energy creating a negative blog post, but I felt compelled after this horrendous experience. There are many other bus companies to choose from, and although they might be a little more expensive (80-130rm were the other prices), you’ll likely have a better experience. The 13 hour journey not only wasted a day, but I was exhausted and very dehydrated the next day.

I met up with an Aussie friend in Singapore (we met in Malaysia the previous week). She got a private taxi to Singapore from Legoland Mayalsia and said it was dreamy. She didn’t even have to get out the car at immigration, the driver just took her passport!! Definitely something to consider if you have the money, or even someone to split the journey with.