Having tried the overnight journey from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur before, I decided to give Starmart a go for a daytime journey back to Singapore. Starmart departs from Berjaya Times Square in Kuala Lumpur and not Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS) like most typical Super VIP buses do. More accurately, it departs from Imbi monorail station which makes access to the bus even easier.
You may also like to read: Starmart Express: Singapore to Kuala Lumpur by Bus
The kiosk is below the station’s escalators on the Berjaya Times Square side. I was about to “check-in” with my Easybook printout but the staff at the bus called for passengers who had printouts to just proceed to the bus.
Starmart Express offers one of the most frequent bus departures from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore, with an average of one bus every 30 to 60 minutes from 6am to midnight at 00 and 30 of the hour, with additional departures at 15 and 45 of the hour or additional buses at existing departure times during peak periods. (I thought the schedule printed on the kiosk was stating the timings of weekdays and public holidays but it turned out to be the AM and PM schedule.)
In my journey’s case, however, they ran a combined service for the 12.30pm and 1.00pm departure using a double decker bus, and they reshuffled everyone’s seat numbers. So even with my seat carefully chosen, I still got a new seat since the seat numbers on the double decker run with both letter suffixes and standalones.
The interior of the double decker bus. This particular seat had a window column so it was hard to take scenery photos.
The bus departed a few minutes off schedule at around 1.05pm. Luckily I was booked on the 1.00pm and not 12.30pm, else I would have waited for 35 minutes on board.
The bus made a 15-minute stop at Kampung Bemban rest area in Melaka for a toilet break. Food trucks are available at this rest area for some snacks, which I bought some on the bus for the second leg of the journey. I “smuggled” them in without the driver looking, but before departure, he came round with a bin for us to throw our rubbish away – great service without banning passengers from eating and drinking in the bus and yet maintaining the overall cleanliness.
If there was a complain that I have, it would be that the bus travelled at an average speed of around 80 to 90km/h only – the journey from Berjaya Times Square to Tanjung Kupang took slightly more than 5 hours. Almost all other buses and even lorries were overtaking us.
The bus waited at Tuas Checkpoint for two passengers who didn’t show up for half an hour, which added to the delay. In the end, the bus had to depart without them since it had been already half an hour and everyone was getting impatient.
The bus arrived at Golden Mile Tower at around 8.00pm – 7 hours after departing Berjaya Times Square. It was painfully slow, especially sitting on the right side of the bus where you can see all the vehicles overtaking you, but it seems that most buses that I’ve taken to and from Singapore now drive at this speed especially after the major bus crashes last year.
Will I take Starmart Express again?
Yes, they’ve never failed me on comfort and cleanliness, even with the negative news last year, and with departures to Singapore which are more frequent than the KTM Komuter nowdays, there’s always a good timing to travel with them.
You may also like to read: Starmart Express: Singapore to Kuala Lumpur by Bus
Some possible booking methods for Kuala Lumpur – Singapore express buses are:
- Individual bus company ticket counters
- Online from 12Go Asia
- Online from BusOnlineTicket
- Online from CatchThatBus
- Online from Easybook
Hotel Booking
Attractions Booking
How do I book tickets online?
- Click here for a step-by-step guide for 12Go Asia.
- Click here for a step-by-step guide for Easybook.
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