Commuters using the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur High Speed Rail (HSR) will be able to enjoy more seamless travel, as they can clear Customs and immigration checks for both countries at their point of departure.

The governments of Singapore and Malaysia have agreed to co- locate Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) facilities at three locations - Singapore, Iskandar Puteri and Kuala Lumpur - so that travellers between the two countries can walk right off the train when they reach their destination.

Here is how this will work: A person taking the train out of Singapore - whether to Kuala Lumpur, Iskandar Puteri or anywhere along the way - will have his passport checked at an Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) counter at the Jurong East terminus.

He will then walk a short distance to Malaysian immigration counters at the same terminus and go through passport checks before boarding the train. Malaysian Customs officials may also inspect his luggage at the terminus.

There will be co-located CIQ facilities at the Kuala Lumpur terminus in Bandar Malaysia for those getting on the train in Kuala Lumpur.

This means ICA officers will be stationed at the Kuala Lumpur terminus, just as British Customs officers are stationed in Paris and Brussels for passengers taking a direct Eurostar train to London. Details of the CIQ clearance processes were agreed upon in a memorandum of understanding between Singapore and Malaysia yesterday.

The co-located facilities will offer "swift and seamless" travel, the countries said in a joint statement.

Passengers travelling on the domestic service from, say, Putrajaya to Singapore, will have to disembark at Iskandar Puteri and clear Customs there, before continuing their journey to Singapore on the shuttle service.

Once in Jurong East, they can walk off the train and head to their next destination.