Starmart Express Midnight Bus from KL TBS to Singapore Golden Mile Tower

Starmart Express is one of many midnight bus operators from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore, but charges a fair price in Ringgit instead of converting it from the Singapore Dollar price. With a reasonable top-up in fare from a bus for JB Larkin Sentral, I took Starmart Express’s 11.59pm bus directly from KL to Singapore.

Kuala Lumpur Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS)

Heading into Kuala Lumpur Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS) just in time for the 11.59pm bus, after arriving at Bandar Tasik Selatan ERL Station from the KL Transit train at 11.40pm.

There was a queue for reprinting boarding passes.

Luckily with foresight, I had already printed my Starmart Express boarding pass 3 days beforehand, when I was at TBS for my Queen Express bus to Rantau Panjang.

With my Starmart Express boarding pass in hand, I headed straight for the CTS gates.

Scanning my TBS boarding pass at the CTS gate.

Heading down the escalator to the main departure hall.

Gates 1 to 13 enjoy the big main departure hall with snack stalls, plentiful seating, good air-conditioning, and multiple toilets. This is in contrast to the small departure hall I was assigned to when waiting for Queen Express.

There are 2 departures to Singapore, both at 11.59pm, from Gate 4.

The first bus at the gate was LA Holidays to Bugis, Katong V, and Kovan Hub.

However, I could already see my Starmart Express bus behind the LA Holidays bus, so it’s not Starmart Express’ fault for the delayed departure.

My Starmart Express bus arrived at Gate 4 at 12.01am, after LA Holidays had departed.

Starmart Express Bus

AKQ 6 would be operating my midnight bus. During booking on BusOnlineTicket, the seat map was for a single deck 27-seater bus, but looks like it got swapped out to a double-decker for extra capacity at the end of this Labour Day long weekend.

The bus was quite full, having already boarded some passengers from Berjaya Times Square Kuala Lumpur, and the darkness made it hard for a good interior photo.

The legroom on board the Starmart Express double-decker bus. I got an aisle seat because it was the second-last ticket available at the time of my booking.

It was a full bus for this night journey from KL to Singapore.

My Starmart Express 11.59pm bus departed from Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS) Kuala Lumpur at 12.08am, 9 minutes delayed due to the front LA Holiday bus being assigned the same departure gate for the same scheduled departure time.

Tanjung Kupang Sultan Abu Bakar CIQ Complex

Starmart Express goes to Singapore via the Second Link. The Malaysia immigration stop at Tanjung Kupang Sultan Abu Bakar CIQ Complex was very quick, arriving at 3.56am, and departing at 4.05am, a very smooth process for all passengers together without a hitch.

Tuas Checkpoint

The Singapore immigration stop at Tuas Checkpoint was also reasonably quick, arriving at 4.11am, and departing at 4.33am, a very smooth process for all passengers too. Some passengers also swapped with another Starmart Express bus going to Boon Lay, and vice-versa.

Singapore Golden Mile Tower

My Starmart Express midnight bus arrived at Golden Mile Tower Singapore at 5.01am, making this a journey time of 4 hours and 53 minutes, or 5 hours and 2 minutes if counting from scheduled departure time.

A misconception is that “Golden Mile” has closed down and all express buses are gone. However, it is Golden Mile Complex that has closed down, and Golden Mile Tower is still very much standing. Starmart Express continues to operate at Golden Mile Tower.

Golden Mile Tower is nearby Nicoll Highway MRT Station for the Circle Line, and I had plenty of time to head there to catch the first Circle Line train to head home.

Heading up the escalator to the overhead bridge across Nicoll Highway to Nicoll Highway MRT Station.

Looks like there are earlier buses that have arrived with passengers also waiting for the first Circle Line MRT train.

Nicoll Highway MRT Station

The lights at Nicoll Highway MRT Station Exit A were still off when I got down at 5.07am.

The first train from Nicoll Highway MRT Station towards HarbourFront via Bishan will depart at 5.45am, since this is a weekday.

At 5.34am, the lights at Nicoll Highway MRT Station Exit A were switched on.

The shutters to Nicoll Highway MRT Station were opened automatically at 5.35am, 10 minutes before the first Circle Line train to HarbourFront via Bishan.

The first Circle Line train to HarbourFront via Bishan arrived at Nicoll Highway MRT Station at 5.45am as advertised, continuing on my train connection from KLIA Transit 6 hours before.

Conclusion

Starmart Express does a reliable midnight bus from KL to Singapore with no other surprise destinations en route aside from immigration stops. There were more people on board the bus with the swap to a double-decker bus, but the legroom was still good as I could still extend the calf rest fully. The passengers on board also went through immigration smoothly, so stops at immigration was also efficient.

And herein concludes my MySawasdee Labour Day long weekend loop around Peninsular Malaysia through Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand.