DO NOT TAKE CITYLINE TRAVEL!!! BUS NEVER SHOWED UP from Singapore Lavender MRT to KL Sentral

Cityline is a new but probably now worst-rated Singapore express bus company for routes to Malaysia. I was heading up to KL for 2 separate events, so I thought taking the overnight bus from Singapore would be slightly easier since there’s less work to do than travelling up to Larkin first. I booked Cityline from Lavender MRT to KL Sentral in the hopes of getting a comfortable overnight ride to KL, but alas, this journey was not meant to be, with Cityline outright not operating the service.

Cityline from Lavender MRT Station

Cityline departs from outside Lavender MRT Station Exit B.

Express buses stop just outside the station exit, with other companies also using the same pick-up point.

My booked bus was for 12.50am, so I arrived by MRT before train services ended for the day, and just waited around the area.

At 12.50am, the Cityline bus was nowhere to be seen.

At 1.05am, 15 minutes after scheduled departure time, the Cityline bus was still nowhere to be seen.

At 1.20am, 30 minutes after scheduled departure time, the Cityline bus was still nowhere to be seen.

At 1.50am, 1 hour after scheduled departure time, the Cityline bus was still nowhere to be seen.

As my event would be in the morning, I decided that I could not risk continuing to wait for the bus, which even if it showed up at 3 or 4 in the morning, would still get me to KL later that I would require to reach there.

As such, I decided to give up waiting for the Cityline bus at 2.05am, and walked to Queen Street Bus Terminal to catch the Causeway Link CW2 to JB, to then Grab to Larkin Sentral, in the hopes of catching the first bus from Larkin at 5am to get to KL still slightly later than I would have liked, but still at least I’m moving.

There were also at least 2 other passengers waiting at Lavender MRT Station for the same 12.50am Cityline bus. There may also be other passengers waiting at Bugis MRT Station Exit D and Jurong East MRT Station Pick-up/Drop-off Point, which the same Cityline bus serves on the way to immigration.

Causeway Link CW2 24 Hour Bus Service from Queen Street Bus Terminal

The walk from Lavender MRT to Queen Street Bus Terminal took me about 15 minutes via the Rochor River.

While there is a schedule for the overnight Causeway Link CW2 bus services from Queen Street Bus Terminal to JB Bangunan Sultan Iskandar, I’m not sure if my bus arrived early or late at 2.28am. This thankfully got me a short wait at Queen Street Bus Terminal, and I was quickly on my way to JB in the wee hours of the morning. Goodbye sleep.

My Causeway Link CW2 departed from Queen Street Bus Terminal at 2.31am.

Thank you Causeway Link for saving the day (night (?)).

Cityline’s Poor Customer Service

I WhatsApped Cityline at 1.06am asking for my bus status, but I was left at 1 tick as the contact number only operates from 10am to 6pm.

Even at 10am, I was left at blue tick by Cityline, and I had to send another text at 11am to inform Cityline of what I had to do to get to KL.

Despite this, Cityline brazenly declared that the 12.50am bus did actually arrive, and check-in started 15 minutes before departure, before departing on time. My rebuts at 11.54am and 12.17pm were met with ignorance by blue-ticks, until I had to ask if Cityline was doing anything about the situation at 12.28pm, to which Cityline could then instantly reply to tell me to send an email to enquiry@cityline.com.sg.

I sent an email to enquiry@cityline.com.sg at 12.38pm, and Cityline replied back about 3 hours later at 3.28pm with a template email saying that they will “inform booking platform to proceed for refund”.

At 6.58pm, I received an email from BusOnlineTicket that Cityline has instructed them to issue a refund as “the trip has been canceled (sic)”. 18 hours and 8 minutes after my bus was scheduled to depart, I am told that the bus had been cancelled. My refund will only be completed in 2 to 4 weeks time.

Cityline has showed extreme unprofessionalism in this situation as despite me waiting for my bus since more than 1 hour prior to departure time and decided to give up more than 1 hour after scheduled departure time, Cityline first informed me that the bus 12.50am bus did actually arrive, with check-in 15 minutes before departure, thus accusing me of being a no-show passenger.

Even after I said that their statement was false, Cityline only ignored my messages.

And finally, when the information has been handed over by Cityline to BusOnlineTicket, I am told that the bus is cancelled after all.

Is Cityline simply selling tickets for non-existent buses similar to an online shopping scam? And what if I relented and did not pursue the issue after being ignored by both messages? Would Cityline have seriously treated me as a no-show passenger?

Cityline 1.8 Stars on Facebook

A quick check on Cityline’s Facebook reviews with a total of 15 reviews and an average of 1.8 stars rating shows a similar situation of a non-existent bus as reviewed on 13 April 2024, a 4-hour-delayed bus as reviewed on 4 March 2024, and even by a passenger on board the bus on fire with “loud popping sounds when the tyres burst and the windows shattered” on 2 February 2024 as reported by The Straits Times.

Cityline has been an extreme disappointment and they bring disrepute to Singapore express bus companies for such an untrustworthy service.

I am lucky enough to know my way around Singapore and Malaysia well enough to escape this situation (at the expense of not sleeping till sunrise), especially with no major public transport option past midnight, but what if the customer was a frail senior citizen? Or a foreigner travelling from Singapore to Malaysia for the first time with limited knowledge of English and Bahasa Malaysia?

My first (and only) trip with Cityline when they were still brand new was met with a minor accident barely 1 minute into the bus journey, followed by an extremely warm ride to KL.

Following this phantom bus incident, I will never take Cityline again, and I suggest you don’t too.