Malaysian travelers to enter S’pore via land VTL, and vice versa, from Dec 20

The Singapore-Malaysia vaccinated travel lane (VTL) via the Causeway will be expanded to allow more groups of people to travel between both countries.

From Dec 20, Singapore citizens will be able to enter Malaysia, and Malaysia citizens will likewise be able to enter Singapore, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said in a press release on Tuesday (Dec 14).

There will be no change to the current test protocols in Singapore and Malaysia, added MTI.

All travelers entering Singapore will have to abide by the prevailing test protocols and safety management measures, which include the post-arrival 7-day COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Test (ART) regime.

The first phase of the land VTL between Singapore and Malaysia had begun late last month, on the same day as the air VTL between Changi Airport and Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

There are 32 bus trips each way across the Causeway daily. The buses have a maximum capacity of 45 “fully seated” passengers per trip.

That means the daily quota for the land VTL scheme is about 2,900 travelers in total, with 1,440 passengers each way.

The designated services are operated by two companies. Transtar Travel operates 32 daily designated trips – 16 trips from Malaysia and 16 trips from Singapore – between Woodlands Temporary Bus Interchange in Singapore and Larkin Sentral Bus Terminal in Johor Bahru.

Handal Indah similarly operates 32 daily trips between Larkin Sentral Bus Terminal and Queen Street Terminal in Singapore.

But under the initial land VTL arrangement, travelers must be citizens, permanent residents, or long-term pass holders of the country that they are entering.

Thus, entry into Singapore via land VTL is limited to Singapore citizens, Singapore permanent residents, and Singapore long-term pass holders.

Entry into Malaysia via land VTL is for Malaysians, Malaysian permanent residents, and Malaysian long-term pass holders.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES