How to get from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore

When you want to travel from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore, there are a few options:

1. Take the direct budgeted flight from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore.

You can take flight either Firefly or Air Asia.  My friend who works in Singapore and comes back to Kuala Lumpur literally every weekend recommends Firefly- if you know your time and can book early, sometimes you can get good offer. What’s more, Firefly flies from Subang old airport instead of the airport in Sepang. Many people who stay in Subang, Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur finds it much easier and nearer to go to Subang instead of KLIA.

If you book via Air Asia, you need to take the flight from klia2 located in Sepang. Please note that klia2 is not same as KLIA. And only flights from Firefly operates from Subang old airport (it used to be our international airport before KLIA was build).

2. Take the night train (Senandung Malam) from KTM Intercity (Keretapi Tanah Melayu)

Leave at 2230 hrs from KL Sentral and arrive Singapore at 0820.   Note: Train tickets are more expensive than bus tickets and is overnight. There is also no sales or zero fare promotion if you take the express train. There is also a day express train to Singapore.  But if you buy the sleeping bunk, at least you can sleep all the way to Singapore (and also save on one night of hotel room). Their Intercity tickets are sold out quite fast so you need to book early.

If you wish to contact KTMB, you can call them at:

Toll Free Line is available from 07:00am until 10:00pm everyday (including public holiday).

Local: 1-300-88-KTMB(5862)

Overseas: 603-2267 1200

3. Take the bus from KL to Singapore and back

Actually,  I think that the bus is a good option.  After all, if you take the flight, you have to plan your journey earlier and be at the airport 2 hours before your flight, and then the flight takes an hour. Then you need to go through the Customs and Immigration.  The time taken is almost 4 hours- the express bus only take about 4 to 5 hours. Sometimes when you are taking the night bus, the bus travel faster than that.

First Coach bus is definitely a favourite choice for frequent travellers especially Malaysians who are working in Singapore.  The seats are comfortable and the bus travels quite fast and the ticket price is very reasonable. I only know the return round ticket from KL to Singapore and then Singapore back to KL is RM115. If you are buying a ticket from Singapore to KL, it is slightly more expensive. Their Bangsar office phone number is +603 2287 3311 (till 7pm only). You can also take your bus from other locations.

The tickets can be booked via phone but you will need to collect it one week from the time you are supposed to travel via their office.
This means if you are travelling on next Saturday, you need to physically pay and collect your tickets by the Saturday before. Else, your tickets will be released to others (it is only fair).  If you are travelling over the weekend, you need to get your tickets early as they are generally quickly snapped up- since their price is so reasonable and their buses are punctual.

During a recent trip, we were unfortunate to have miss the First Coach 6.30pmbus to Singapore because of all days, the LRT train (that were supposed to take us to Bangsar LRT station) chose, of all days to break down on the peak hour that we were supposed to take the bus. The 8.30pm bus was sold out and the next day’s 6am bus was sold out as well. The only next available tickets were at 11.30am.

We bought subsequent tickets of NiCE Coach 12.30am bus that departs via the old KTM building. We paid RM88 for a single trip ticket (it’s compatively more expensive but we had no choice since we’ve missed the bus):

Their business hours: Monday to Sunday: 7am to 12.30am (including public holidays). If you are travelling to Singapore, you can rest at the VIP lounge and will be offered a drink (either coffee/tea/milo). There is also a PC with internet connection- everyone who was using was busy accessing facebook).

In a way it was good because we could sleep in the bus instead of having to arrive to our Singapore host’s home in the middle of the night. There is a restaurant located nearby when you can get hot meals to eat:

The bus left at 12.30am sharp and arrive at the Custom borders at about4.30am. I wondered how fast the bus must have travelled.

I bought a sleeping bag with me (coz I was not sure if my host had enough beds for us all). The sleeping bag act as a very comfortable pillow for me to curl myself up like a cat and sleep in the bus.

There are also other buses such as Aeroline and Transnational that travels from KL to Singapore.