I received a tip off that the KTM Komuter 81 Class EMU was back in service on Friday afternoon, so I immediately checked Easybook and BusOnlineTicket for tickets to KL on that night itself. One of my most last-minute trips to KL ever.
I decided on Golden Coach Express based on the seat availability, having the last single seat on all of the available buses left online, and also the memory of what happened on the Starmart midnight bus the last time is still pretty fresh in my mind.
This article was originally published on 9 July 2018 on BusTravel Station.
An actual ticket will be issued at the Golden Coach counter at Concorde Shopping Centre after checking on your online booking code.
Unfortunately, I was left with quite literally the last seat on the bus due to my last-minute booking, both the last available seat and the last seat at the back of the bus. All other companies were almost all sold out too, including Starmart’s many midnight departures. But never mind, it was a bit of a discomfort and a risk that I was willing to take, since I don’t know exactly if the 81 Class would run on Saturday or not.
Golden Coach has 3 departures at around midnight to KL, and each bus continues on to their own northern destinations.
Boarding my bus to KL.
The interior of the bus. This is a 30-seater bus fitted with Orient seats.
My seat 10A, the last single seat on the last row of the bus. It actually doesn’t look that bad, there’s still quite a good legroom.
The seat recline isn’t affected too, since there’s a void above the engines for the seat to recline.
The generous legroom on the last row of the bus, something which is a rarity in most buses.
The bus comes with a “safety card” in the seat pocket in front as well.
The “safety card” has instructions for immigration clearance in Singapore and Malaysia in both directions.
The overview of the bus from my seat.
This bus has quite a unique air-conditioning vent. Do you spot the awkward but important gadget not usually found on it?
That’s right – a USB charging port hanging from above.
So on top of a “safety card”, “oxygen masks will drop down from the compartment above your head”, in this case, power for charging my phone. Awkward, but at least I can have my battery charged.
After departure at about 12.05am, the lights were changed to shade of blue.
The Golden Coach 3-bus convoy heading to get on the CTE.
The interior stayed this way from Concorde Shopping Centre to Tanjung Kupang CIQ, probably to keep passengers out of their slumber before immigration and customs clearance.
Re-boarding the bus at Tanjung Kupang CIQ after clearing Malaysian immigration. Thankfully, the driver drove to the less crowded Tanjung Kupang CIQ bus lane so that immigration queues were much shorter.
The bus arrived at Berjaya Times Square at 4.45am, making this a pretty quick journey of just 4 hours and 40 minutes. Kudos to the driver too for driving to the less crowded Tanjung Kupang CIQ bus lane, shortening the waiting time at the CIQ for everyone to clear immigration so that we could be on our way faster than all other buses at the main lane.
As it was still too early before the Monorail Line started from Imbi Station, I walked on to Hang Tuah LRT Station and waited there for the Ampang and Sri Petaling Line to open at around 5.45am.
Overall, it was a pretty pleasant journey with Golden Coach, with the very clean interior (the driver even made sure all curtains were folded nicely before opening the door for everyone to board), comfortable seats and the all-important USB charging port available throughout the bus journey. Unfortunately, they seem to only offer their services in the northbound direction, with southbound buses to Singapore coming straight from the northern states as I can’t seem to search for their buses on Easybook and BusOnlineTicket back to Singapore.