Causeway Link Express from JB Larkin Sentral to KL TBS (Terminal Bersepadu Selatan) Bus Review

Causeway Link might be a familiar bus company when crossing between Malaysia and Singapore, but did you know that you can also take the Causeway Link bus to Kuala Lumpur and other long haul destinations in West Malaysia? For this trip to KL, I opted to take Causeway Link Express from Johor Bahru Larkin Sentral to Kuala Lumpur Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS) to experience the service difference between the cross-border buses to Singapore and the express bus to KL which does not serve the Causeway.

Johor Bahru Larkin Sentral

As I was travelling on the start of the Deepavali 203 long weekend, I made my Causeway Link Express booking in advance on BusOnlineTicket to secure my seat. And thankfully I did. There were snaking queues at Johor Bahru Larkin Sentral to buy on-the-spot tickets, with the next earliest available bus to most if not all destinations only at night.

As I was travelling with a pre-booked ticket, I only need to queue at the boarding pass counter. The dedicated row for boarding pass collection and payment is at counters A09 to A14, beside the departure gate.

Johor Bahru Larkin Sentral charges RM2 for boarding pass and facilities since 1 January 2022. The boarding pass is an additional charge on the ticket already purchased.

However, my heart sank when I saw the queue to buy the RM2 boarding pass.

There was a small sign telling passengers which queue to be in for boarding pass or buying tickets.

The crowd, however, was more self-explanatory.

The queue for the RM2 boarding pass looped back at Marrybrown.

The long queue for the RM2 boarding pass also blocked the entrance to the departure hall.

The end is finally in sight. I spent about 45 minutes in the queue to get my compulsory RM2 boarding pass.

Heading into the express bus departure hall. Passengers are allowed to enter from 30 minutes to departure time, but many passengers barely scraped through at departure time itself.

The express bus departure hall has plenty of seats but still not enough to cater for the large Deepavali long weekend crowds.

Do note that no toilets are available here. You should use the toilet (30 sen) before entering the express bus departure hall. The RM2 terminal fee does not include the use of toilets.

Boarding was called for my 11am Causeway Link Express bus about 15 minutes prior to departure.

While it was shown as a hi-deck 30-seater bus online, my Causeway Link Express turned out to be a double-decker bus with more seats.

Luggage is loaded with the assistance of the driver at the rear luggage compartment.

The Causeway Link Express double-decker bus seats 45 passengers.

The interior of the lower deck of my Causeway Link Express bus. The bed above the wheel hub behind the driver’s seat is the driver’s sleeping area, and not a sleeper seat for the public.

The interior of the upper deck of my Causeway Link Express bus.

My booked single seat at 6A.

The legroom available on board the Causeway Link Express double-decker bus on the upper deck.

My view was unfortunately marred by the position of the window panes, but it helped to block out the sun very well along the journey.

2 USB power sockets were available at the side of my seat. Charging was slow, but worked. I had the whole journey to KL to get my phone up to 100% anyway.

My 11am Causeway Link Express bus departed from Johor Bahru Larkin Sentral at 11.04am – 4 minutes delayed due to late passengers held up in the boarding pass queue.

Heading out of Johor Bahru Larkin Sentral.

PLUS North-South Expressway

Queuing up to pass through Skudai Toll Plaza to head onto the PLUS Highway.

There was quite a bad jam on the PLUS Highway with the free tolls provided during the long weekend. Traffic was almost at a standstill at the junction from Senai. Traffic from Singapore via Tuas Second Link also merged here.

Kampung Bemban Lay-by (Northbound)

My Causeway Link Express bus made a brief stop at Kampung Bemban Lay-by (Northbound) for a toilet break. Toilets were experiencing heavy usage with many buses and cars stopping at the same time.

Food trucks selling drinks and snacks are also available.

Other buses also parked at Kampung Bemban Lay-by (Northbound).

My Causeway Link Express bus at Kampung Bemban Lay-by (Northbound).

Heading back on the jammed PLUS Highway.

Heading towards the Sungai Besi Toll to exit from the PLUS Highway.

Continuing in the great jam after Sungai Besi Toll.

Approaching Kuala Lumpur Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS).

Kuala Lumpur Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS)

My Causeway Link Express bus arrived at Kuala Lumpur Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS) at 4.35pm, making it a journey time of 5 hours and 31 minutes, or 5 hours and 35 minutes if taking into account my booked timing.

The significantly long journey time was due to the multiple traffic jams along the way for more than half the journey from Johor Bahru to Kuala Lumpur.

Heading up the escalator from the arrival platform to the arrival hall.

Heading into the arrival hall.

The arrival hall of TBS.

Conclusion

Causeway Link Express is quite a reliable bus operator which departs quite fairly on time – my 4 minutes delay was incurred due to the bus waiting for last-minute passengers stuck when dealing with the long boarding pass queue. If not for the boarding pass queue, my bus would have reversed right on time as the crew were already prepared to move off at 10.59am.

The bus itself was clean and comfortable for a day journey, with USB power sockets to boot. The lack of a calf rest may be slightly inferior to other competitors, but the tighter legroom compared to other competitors also probably means that the calf rest would not be able to fully extend anyway.