Singapore to Kuala Lumpur (KL) Malaysia by Train

First of all there is little financial savings to be had by traveling by train. Air Asia is dirt cheap (near the same price as a train ticket) and appears to have a solid safety record. If you take the overnight train you do save by not having to pay for a night's hotel. This is why we took the train. Also we like trains, they are fun!

If you are not traveling overnight (it's about 7 hours) and you are taking the train, you either love trains or are fearful of flying or both.

There are a number of sites out there that list all the different options to travel to KL by train, I am going to just share one option with you. I found all the options confusing, i.e. take the SMRT (LRT), a bus then take the train and then switch train cars....

Buying your train ticket in Singapore will cost you 2.5X as much as buying the ticket online from Malaysia. We bought the highest-end private cabin with private bathroom for $40-USD each. It's not posh in anyway but it was clean and comfortable.

Buy your train ticket online to go from the "JB Sentral" (Johor Bahru) station to "KL Sentral" online from this site (it's atrocious but stick with it, it will work): http://www.ktmb.com.my

You must bring a PRINTED copy of each ticket for all individuals traveling.

JB Sentral is on the Malaysian side of the causeway that connects Singapore to Malaysia.

In Singapore, take the SMRT to the Woodlands SMRT station.

Then take a bus to the Woodlands Checkpoint (also a train station) it's about a 5 minute ride. There is a list of buses there that will take you from Woodlands SMRT station to Woodlands Checkpoint station (the trains are not connected to each other). You can take the 170.

Get off and go through immigration/emigration (Singapore), it's quick-ish.

Go downstairs and behind the stairs you will find the bus 170 (about $1.50 SGD per person), get on it (you may get lucky and re-board the bus you were previously on) then get off at the first stop . You will see buildings with signs that say "Central" and "Sentral" on them.

Go through the Malaysian customs, you will eventually exit and double back to get to the train station, it's a short walk.

There is a mall right across the street, it's modern so if you have time to kill you can shop there but we found enough to satisfy us at the train station (KFC, 7-11, Starbucks, little shops, etc).

The entire process took us under 2 hours, including the 45+ minute SMRT train ride from the Marina Bay station to the Woodlands SMRT station.

You are in Malaysia now, or as I call it "the opposite of Singapore" keep your wits about you! The food is excellent, the Indian food is stunning!

The room on the train:

 

The toilet paper was mine (used to dry my hands), the room was clean when we arrived :)