More automated lanes, vehicle counters at checkpoints

The number of automated lanes in the bus halls at Woodlands Checkpoint has been increased ahead of Singapore reopening its land borders with Malaysia late last night, said the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA).

To beef up capacity, ICA has also configured bus and car counters at the Woodlands and Tuas checkpoints to automate immigration clearance for lone drivers, it said in a statement yesterday evening, about seven hours before the reopening.

ICA and the Land Transport Authority (LTA) have also been maintaining, enhancing and testing their systems, ICA said, adding that contingency plans have been put in place to cope with unforeseen circumstances.

Assistant Commissioner Colin Tan, who is ICA Woodlands commander, said: "We may expect delays during peak periods and thus would like to seek the public's cooperation to avoid non-essential travel during peak hours."

AC Tan added that ICA has 40 counters for cars arriving in Singapore and 36 for those leaving.

ICA had plans to deploy officers based on the traffic situation closer to midnight, he said, adding: "And if the traffic situation calls for it, we will man all available counters."

ICA's statement also said that its officers and all checkpoint agencies conducted drills and exercises to familiarise themselves with the workflow and processes.

"We have also planned our manpower in anticipation of the reopening tonight and subsequent anticipated long weekend peaks," ICA said.

It added that it will monitor traffic conditions and adjust its resources as the situation develops.

Singapore has been working with the Malaysian authorities to make sure there are enough resources on the ground to manage traffic, the authority said.

It has also been working with LTA, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Singapore Police Force and Singapore Customs on the operational details of reopening the borders, in a bid to reduce inconvenience to travellers.

Travellers should prepare all necessary documents - such as submitting the SG Arrival Card online and having a valid vehicle entry permit - before getting to the checkpoints to make travel smoother, said AC Tan.

With the reopening of borders from last night, travellers fully vaccinated against Covid-19 are able to travel between Singapore and Malaysia without any testing or quarantine. They no longer need to take designated vaccinated travel lane (VTL) buses.

The cap on the number of daily overland travellers has also been removed - a major step from the previous arrangement, where only about 6,800 people were allowed to travel on VTL buses daily.

The highly anticipated move will kick-start short trips between the neighbouring countries and could pave the way for cross-border trips to return to pre-pandemic levels, when 415,000 people crossed the Causeway at Woodlands and the Tuas Second Link daily.

Malaysia will waive the toll charge, on top of the road charge, for a week for vehicles entering Johor Baru from Singapore.

The two companies currently operating VTL bus services, Transtar and Causeway Link, have said they will ramp up cross-border trips when border measures are eased.

But there have been no updates on when public bus services between the two countries will resume. The train service linking Singapore and Johor has yet to resume as well.

Transport Minister S. Iswaran has said more time will be needed for transport services between Johor and Singapore to be ramped up.