Odyssey Prestige Coaches from Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS) to Melaka Sentral by Bus

Odyssey Prestige Coaches was one of the premium players on the Singapore – KL route, originally operating between Avenue K and the now-defunct Copthorne Orchid Hotel Singapore. Their last route was between eCurve and Balestier Plaza, before pulling out of the Singapore market totally. Today, Odyssey Prestige Coaches operates the local Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS) – Melaka Sentral route 4 times a day, which looks like it’s a success with the perpetual high demand on this route.

The departure and arrival board of buses at TBS.

Heading to the ticket counter to exchange for my boarding pass with my Easybook booking.

My boarding pass for my Odyssey Prestige Coaches bus ride from Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS) to Melaka Sentral.

Scanning my boarding pass to enter the secured departure lobby.

Heading down to the departure lobby.

My Odyssey Prestige Coaches bus looks like it’s on schedule.

The main departure lobby of TBS.

Heading to Gate 2 to wait for my Odyssey Prestige Coaches bus.

About 5 minutes before departure time, the double-decker bus was already waiting to enter the bus bay.

The main door is in the middle of the bus, leading directly to the steps up to the upper deck, and to the rear of the lower deck.

The double-deck Odyssey Prestige Coaches bus at TBS.

The route information is part of the bus livery.

The interior of the upper deck. As compared to its former glory of operating premium coaches with “Business Class service” including meals, on-demand entertainment and steward service, Odyssey Prestige Coaches now operates high-capacity 2+2 seating double-decker buses. The seats look worn out too, which means it’s probably a second-hand bus since I don’t recall Odyssey operating these kind of coaches to Singapore.

For this journey, I booked myself the front seat on the upper deck.

The legroom available on the front seat of the upper deck.

The handwritten seat numbers labelled at the top of each seat pair.

The front seat definitely offers the best views when cruising down the highway.

The overall interior of the upper deck.

Lots of cracking PVC covers for the headrests.

A television is available at the front of the coach, but this was not in use.

The bus departed from TBS right on schedule.

The legroom available on the front seat of the upper deck.

The air-conditioning vents for each pair of seats.

Exiting TBS.

Passing by Sungai Besi LRT Station with both Sri Petaling Line and KLIA Ekspres trains passing by my bus.

Heading to Sungai Besi Toll with the MRT Sungai Buloh–Serdang–Putrajaya Line viaducts beside.

Approaching Sungai Besi Toll.

Taking the left-most counter as buses do.

Heading into the closed toll system of the North–South Expressway.

Passing by more MRT Sungai Buloh–Serdang–Putrajaya Line viaducts before it splits off into Seri Kembangan.

Continuing down the North–South Expressway, a familiar road to me. Except that I’m not going to JB or Singapore this time.

Some nice scenery of plantations along the way.

Approaching a gap in vegetation with warnings for truck drivers to stop if needed.

A wind sock is positioned for drivers to see if it is safe to proceed with a high load.

Approaching the Ayer Keroh exit.

Oh.

Well, I’m now quite happy that I planned my trip to head up to KL first with Starmart and then come back to Melaka in the morning with Odyssey with ample time to spare, than to risk an early morning bus up to Melaka from Singapore and get stuck in both immigration and this Ayer Keroh exit jam.

Still jamming with both northbound and southbound traffic meeting before the toll.

A Mayang Sari bus forcefully cutting the queue, to much horns from everyone else.

Lots of cars got stuck in the Touch ‘n Go lanes.

Some drivers and passengers can be seen running to other manned counters. I guess they don’t have enough money in their Touch ‘n Go cards to open the gantry. Sigh.

The toll fee for my bus from KL to Melaka costs just RM11.80.

A “Welcome to Melaka” advertisement by Hatten Group.

Taking Lebuh SPA and turning left onto Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman.

Taking the roundabout at the edge of the runway of Malacca International Airport.

The entrance to Malacca International Airport.

Heading on to Melaka Sentral.

Crossing over the Malacca River.

Turning into Melaka Sentral. However, due to the road layout around Melaka Sentral, the bus had to go a complete round around the terminal first to access the alighting berth.

Heading into the arrival berth of Melaka Sentral.

Disembarking from the bus.

The empty interior of the bus after everyone had disembarked.

Heading down the staircase.

The interior of the lower deck.

The Odyssey Prestige Coaches bus at the Melaka Sentral alighting berth, with passengers picking up their luggage.

The Odyssey Prestige Coaches bus from another angle at the Melaka Sentral alighting berth.

Heading into the terminal building.

Here, I checked out the Panorama Melaka buses to the airport (and failed to get one), before getting a Grab to Malacca International Airport to continue my marathon Peninsular Malaysia trip.

Overall, a rather pleasant ride on Odyssey Prestige Coaches after so many years of not taking them, though getting the seat beside me empty probably helped with the experience. A 2+2 high-capacity double-decker bus, if full, might not be too pleasant for a long-distance journey, but considering that the bus ran almost full, it’s probably good for Odyssey’s finances.

It’s also worth to note that Odyssey’s fares are a little bit higher than similar competitors with Super VIP 2+1 seating buses, so if I need to use this route again, I might go with other buses since my goal of this particular journey was really just to take Odyssey’s bus again.