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Thousands of Malaysian bus commuters pushed, shoved and beat on bus doors, trying to get a seat on a bus travelling to Singapore.
Police arrived to assist immigration officers and SBS Transit staff in herding the crowd into bus queues.
At the former Johor terminal, Singapore-bound commuters just walked through a single-storey facility to get to their buses.
The towering Sultan Iskandar complex, however, has commuters climbing to the third storey for immigration clearance, a trip which takes about 10 minutes.
Immigration clearance takes less than a minute, but commuters hit a bottleneck when they get to the bus depot as there are not enough buses to move them.
The option of walking across the Causeway, which was possible at the old terminal, is no longer available, so more people are relying on buses to cross into Singapore.
The director of Johor State Immigration, Mr Mohd Nasri Ishak, also attributed the situation partly to the commuters' lack of familiarity with the new complex and its system. Traffic congestion at the complex is also not helping the situation.
According to Malaysian news agency Bernama, Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Shahrir Samad attributed the congestion to the haphazard entry and exit points at the complex. 'I feel the impact of its opening should have been envisaged and better preparations made to deal with the possibilities,' he said.
'If we don't plan carefully and think that a walk-through or simulation is enough, problems may crop up and that's what has happened at the CIQ complex.'
There are 48 bus lanes in the bus depot, 24 on each side with a mix of Malaysian and Singaporean bus services including SBS Transit bus services 160 and 170 that cross the Causeway.
While The Straits Times was at the new Customs, immigrations and quarantine (CIQ) complex's bus depot yesterday morning from 6.45am to 9.45am, more than 300 people were waiting for SBS Transit bus services 160 and 170.
When the buses arrived, at 10-minute intervals, commuters chased them and as soon as the buses stopped, descended on the vehicles in swarms.
Johor State Immigration is aware of the situation and will continue to monitor and address it accordingly, said Mr Mohd Nasri. He added that the police will also be called in to 'assist the public'.
'But I see this as being temporary as it is only the start of the complex's operation,' he said.
He said there are over 500 immigration officers stationed around the complex to 'guide' the public, who should keep in line and behave properly.
SBS Transit spokesman Tammy Tan said the company was grateful to the Malaysian authorities for their assistance on the ground.
'We wish to appeal to passengers not to run towards our buses as this is very dangerous. This also causes unnecessary delay and inconvenience as well.'
When asked about ridership and increasing either the frequency or bus numbers, Ms Tan said that it is too soon to know if there is an increase in demand due to the new location.
'We will continue to monitor the situation and deploy buses according to need,' she said.
