Woodlands Checkpoint - 21 Woodlands Crossing

Woodlands checkpoint. Probably the worst performing customs in the world. Very, very bad service for foreigners entering Sg. Super inefficient and super slow. I’m not talking about peak hours. It’s a less than busy traffic on a lazy weekday afternoon. The Sg govt should review seriously their sincerity and efficiency to Malaysian visitors. What a joke to Sg efficiency. Or simply lack of respect to Malaysian visitors?

Sg border custom is the slowest border custom i ever encounter. The manual lane only have 1 open out of many other lane. So cheap on manpower. First class country with the slowest border custom. Shame!!

Immigration officers did not notify us to do Arrival Form through mobile phones. We queued up for an hour to reach our turn to counter, suddenly we did not realise that arrival form need to fill up before checking point, we return to starting point again and waiting for an hour again after filling up the arrival form. It’s quite frustrating experience for the first time to visit Singapore through land after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Can be better. A bit lost as signage not continuous all way long. Shuttle bus from jb to Singapore is a bit tricky. First timer might didn't know which bus to hop on. Must hold bus ticket after purchased. A lots of renovation work and a bit troublesome to walk around especially you carry a lots of items. Manual passport check queue is slow and long. Many didn't know how to fill up digital white card arrival and slow down the process. Need to improve.

Super jam with so few counters being opened. The efficiency is so bad. Travelling should be made hassle free for all. The recent announcement to expand the checkpoint is useless if the counters remains unoccupied. Seriously, they need to look into this. Focus on opening all counters at all time will save more money on expanding.

Decently managed crossing that’s relatively well ventilated. Depending on time, season and day, the time of clearance can range from as quick as 5mins to a couple of hours.

Used to be stuck 3 hours on the bridge precovid. Now that borders have reopened, the traffic is so smooth on Malaysia side with no waiting time. Today is literally a Friday night and we are already stuck here. Boo so cheap on manpower

This review is for Woodlands Train Checkpoint (there is no listing for it somehow). TL; DR: Arrive at least 30 minutes before your train departure time to clear both the Singapore and Malaysia side of customs clearance. Go to Level 2 (up a flight of noisy stairs, or the lift) after arriving at the train checkpoint to start your journey. Train departs at 8.30am, and arrived at 7.50am to find that all the seats were taken up and there was already a long queue. At 8am, we were allowed to proceed to the Singapore Customs, after KTM officials took photos(?) of our passports. At the Singapore Customs, if there is an official directing you to go to the left (counters manned by ICA staff), there is a good reason why they are doing so - the automated clearance counter (only 3) already has a long queue. Take off your mask/spectacles/cap during the clearance process. Next, there is a short walk to the Malaysia Customs (there is a toilet available). Same procedures at the Malaysia side of things - where both sides require scanning of your index fingers. Afterwards, scanning of your bag (if any), before you finally get to board the train that is waiting for you. There are toilets available before boarding, and also within the train. Very smooth process all in all on a Thursday morning. A plus point for going by train is the short travelling time and the ability to clear both countries’ customs clearance at one-go. Not sure if the KTM officials were able to check our train tickets initially, but no one checked our tickets.