Suasana Edaran Express from JB Larkin Sentral to KL Sentral Bus Review

Suasana Edaran is well-known for their KL Sentral-KLIA-klia2 Super VIP bus service at regular prices, but has expanded to longer-distance intercity routes in the past year, especially to JB. To my surprise, Suasana Edaran is now officially selling KL Sentral as a new destination from JB Larkin Sentral, when I was searching for a ticket on Easybook. For my midnight overnight bus from JB, I chose KL Sentral as my destination for this new city-to-city service.

Johor Bahru Larkin Sentral

I made my Suasana Edaran Express bus booking in advance on Easybook to secure my seat. Tickets are popular for midnight departures, and I didn’t want to be stranded at Larkin Sentral overnight if all tickets were sold out.

The dedicated row for boarding pass collection and payment is at counters A09 to A14, beside the departure gate. Johor Bahru Larkin Sentral charges RM2 for boarding pass and facilities since 1 January 2022. The boarding pass is an additional charge on the ticket already purchased.

My boarding pass for my Suasana Edaran Express bus from JB Larkin Sentral to KL Sentral .

The original entrance of the express bus departure hall is now closed, and has moved to the side where the exit used to be.

Heading in to the express bus departure hall via the new entrance. Passengers are allowed to enter from 30 minutes to departure time.

Scanning my boarding pass at the CTS gates.

The CTS gate showed my boarding gate as Gate C, but it was closed.

Nonetheless, my Suasana Edaran Express bus information was displayed at Gate C, with the destination of KL Sentral displayed prominently. When making my booking, only the 11.58pm bus was available for booking. The 11.40pm bus seems to be an extra bus.

The express bus departure hall has plenty of seats, now more evenly spread out with passengers since the entrance is now at the end and boarding is at Gate B on the front end.

Do note that no toilets are available here. You should use the toilet (30 sen) before entering the express bus departure hall. The RM2 terminal fee does not include the use of toilets.

Boarding was called for “Suasana Edaran” at 11.42pm.

Heading through Gate B to the bus berths.

Suasana Edaran Express Bus

There was a Suasana Edaran Express bus at Platform B12 just outside Gate B, where all Suasana Edaran passengers gathered.

Boarding passes were checked by the driver of this bus, and alas, this was the 11.40pm bus. 11.58pm passengers were told to move down the platform for the other Suasana Edaran bus.

The other Suasana Edaran bus was at Platform B16. Another boarding pass check by this driver, and this is my correct 11.58pm bus.

The interior of the Suasana Edaran Express bus. Seats are arranged in a 2+1 formation with 10 rows of seats in total, a 30-seater bus.

My booked seat at 7A.

The legroom on board Suasana Edaran Express. Legroom is tighter, since this is a 30-seater bus with 10 rows of seats.

Boarding was a little bit slow, but eventually the bus was completely full.

It was also raining during boarding, which made passenger movements and luggage loading at the bus berths slower.

My 11.58pm Suasana Edaran Express bus departed from Johor Bahru Larkin Sentral at 12.16am – 18 minutes delayed. For an overnight bus, I didn’t mind the slight departure delay though, since I don’t want to arrive in KL overly early either. As long as I am on board a bus before departure time.

As I had a long day before, I quickly fell asleep on board the smooth bus even before approaching the PLUS Highway. The hard side headrests on the seat helped with my sleep as well.

Kuala Lumpur Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS)

I woke up only on approach to Kuala Lumpur Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS).

My Suasana Edaran Express bus arrived at Kuala Lumpur Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS) at 3.50am.

To my surprise, less than half of the bus alighted at Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS), with everyone else continuing on to KL Sentral. A true testament of the new route’s convenience.

Turning in to KL Sentral.

Kuala Lumpur Sentral Railway Station (KL Sentral)

My Suasana Edaran Express bus arrived at KL Sentral at 4.05am, making this a journey of 4 hours and 7 minutes, counting original departure time.

To my surprise, the stop was outside KL Sentral‘s main entrance at Level 2, where the KTM ticket counter and ETS boarding is. I had expected to be dropped off at the ground floor bus terminal where Suasana Edaran’s office is, but this is better.

KL Sentral was void of passengers this early in the morning, but the sound from the advertising screens were still on.

Conclusion

This new route by Suasana Edaran Express is very convenient especially for the overnight bus from JB Larkin Sentral to KL Sentral. While the fare to KL Sentral (RM40) is RM5 more expensive than TBS (RM35), this gets me to KL Sentral direct, and arrives way earlier than the first KLIA Transit train from Bandar Tasik Selatan to KL Sentral, which would cost more than RM5 too.

The ride on this Suasana Edaran Express was also very smooth, as determined by my sleep quality. I was able to get some uninterrupted sleep while sitting in a tighter legroom bus from around Tampoi all the way to TBS, leaving me surprisingly fresh when waiting at KL Sentral for the first train.

The many empty seats and toilets available around KL Sentral also helped with the freshening up and waiting around after the bus ride, in contrast with having to wait around in TBS instead with hundreds of other passengers.