In 1990, a new station in Woodlands was proposed to replace Tanjong Pagar as the Singapore terminus of the KTM West Coast railway line.[7] Constructed from 1992 to 1997, the Woodlands Train Checkpoint was opened on 1 August 1998 to become the new Singapore border control facility for rail passengers.[citation needed]
At the time of the opening of the new station, there were no boarding facilities, as northbound passengers heading towards Malaysia were required to clear Malaysia's customs and immigration at Tanjong Pagar, and northbound trains stopped at the Woodlands Train Checkpoint for Singapore exit immigration checks only. [citation needed] However, southbound passengers could disembark after clearing Singapore's customs and immigration at the Woodlands Train Checkpoint, as they had already cleared Malaysian customs and immigration at the old Johor Bahru railway station (which was subsequently replaced by JB Sentral).[citation needed]
Until 1998, both Malaysia and Singapore had their customs and immigration facilities for rail passengers at Tanjong Pagar. Singapore decided to relocate its customs and immigration facilities to Woodlands despite Malaysia's unwillingness to vacate the Tanjong Pagar railway station according to the Malaysia–Singapore Points of Agreement of 1990. The Singaporean Immigration and Checkpoints Authority ceased operations at Tanjong Pagar and moved into the Woodlands Train Checkpoint on 1 August 1998.
While providing immigration facilities for southbound passengers at JB Sentral, Malaysian customs and immigration clearance for northbound passengers remained at Tanjong Pagar, refusing to relocate to either the Woodlands Train Checkpoint or JB Sentral. This peculiarity resulted in passengers travelling to Malaysia being granted entry to Malaysia before being granted exit from Singapore, which is contrary to international practice.
To circumvent the problem, Malaysian Immigration officers in Tanjong Pagar did not stamp passports, instead the passports were scanned into a computer system, and passengers were provided with a stamped embarkation/disembarkation card to be retained until leaving Malaysia. This still posed problems for some visitors when leaving Malaysia due to the lack of a physical endorsement in their passports, especially for those who lost the card while in Malaysia.
The border control issues were resolved in 2010 following an agreement between Malaysia and Singapore to permanently close the Tanjong Pagar railway station as well as the Woodlands-Tanjong Pagar railway line. KTM services, together with Malaysian customs and immigration, relocated their operations to the Woodlands Train Checkpoint on 1 July 2011. The Woodlands Train Checkpoint subsequently became the southern terminus of the KTM West Coast Line.[citation needed]
Present
Today, northbound passengers clear both Singapore's and Malaysia's customs and immigration at the Woodlands Train Checkpoint before boarding the train for Malaysia, while southbound passengers clear Malaysian customs and immigration at JB Sentral and Singapore customs and immigration at Woodlands Train Checkpoint.
A diesel powered shuttle train service, known as Shuttle Tebrau and operated by KTM Intercity, runs from the Woodlands Train Checkpoint to JB Sentral.[10] There are 31 trips daily: 18 trips from Johor Bahru and 13 trips from Woodlands.[11] KTM Intercity train services that previously linked the Woodlands Train Checkpoint with various destinations in Malaysia were truncated to terminate at JB Sentral following the introduction of the shuttle train service on 1 July 2015.[10]
The diesel powered Eastern & Oriental Express (E&O) has its southern terminus at Woodlands Train Checkpoint. The E&O is a luxury train that is run by Belmond Limited, the same operator of the Venice-Simplon Orient Express. From 1993 to 2021, the E&O has been used as a means of recreational travel between Singapore and Bangkok with stopovers at places of interest in Malaysia and Thailand. It was suspended in 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It resumed operations in February 2024 between Singapore and Malaysian venues.[12]
Transport connections
The Woodlands Train Checkpoint features both a domestic taxi stand and a domestic ride-hailing (private hire cars) stand.
The station functions as the de facto domestic public bus stop, taxi stand and ride-hailing stand (with much higher bus frequencies, bus seat availability and taxi availability) for the Woodlands Checkpoint, as all bus and taxi services that ply through the Woodlands Checkpoint itself are fully cross-border transport services.[citation needed]
Public bus services
The station is served by 7 local public bus services and a single cross-border public bus service through the bus stop (No. 46069), located adjacent to the pick-up point along Woodlands Centre Road. The bus services are linked to nearby public transport nodes with access to Singapore's Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) network.
Since 17 March 2019, bus service 913 (West Loop) was amended to serve Marsiling and Woodlands Street 13, and no longer called at the bus stops along the northern stretch of Woodlands Centre Road, including the Woodlands Train Checkpoint.[13]
Public Bus Services at Bus Stop No. 46069 - Woodlands Train Checkpoint
Cross-border bound trip terminating at Larkin Sentral Terminal (Johor Bahru), for access to Woodlands Checkpoint Departure Hall mandatory alighting point by bus (2 stops). [14]
Domestic-bound trip of the same service terminating at Queen Street Bus Terminal also calls at the same bus stop. [14]
