The train to JB is the KTM Shuttle Tebrau, and it is the cheapest border crossing Singapore has: S$5 one-way from Woodlands to JB Sentral, a five-minute ride, no Causeway jam. The catch is supply. Each train seats 320 people, tickets are released 30 days out, and weekend slots vanish within hours. Where most travellers lose money is the direction trick. The Singapore-to-JB leg is priced in Singapore dollars, the JB-to-Singapore leg in ringgit (RM5, roughly S$1.50), so booking your return as a single round trip on the Malaysian platform quietly overcharges you. Book the two legs separately and you keep about S$3. Here are the 2026 fares, the booking steps, and how the RTS Link, now due to open in February 2027, reshapes the maths.
There is one train across the Causeway and it is the KTM Shuttle Tebrau, run by Malaysia's Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB). It runs the 5km between Woodlands Train Checkpoint and JB Sentral. The fare is flat, fixed by KTMB, and does not change with how early you book, so the only thing you are competing for is a seat, not a price.
The number that trips people up is the currency. Your Woodlands-to-JB ticket is sold in Singapore dollars at S$5. The return leg from JB Sentral to Woodlands is sold in ringgit at RM5, which is roughly S$1.50 at mid-2026 rates. That asymmetry is real and it is in your favour on the way home, as long as you do not let a platform bundle it into a pricier round-trip product.
There is no student or senior concession. Children under 4 ride free but must be registered at the ticket counter before departure; from age 4 they need a full-price ticket. If you are weighing this against the other crossings, the cab route is covered in our Singapore to JB taxi fare guide, and renting wheels on the other side in the JB car rental guide.
| Direction | Price | Approx. SGD | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Woodlands to JB Sentral | S$5.00 | S$5.00 | Priced in SGD; one-way |
| JB Sentral to Woodlands | RM5.00 | ~S$1.50 | Priced in RM; one-way |
| Two one-way tickets (return) | S$5 + RM5 | ~S$6.50 | Cheapest return if booked as two legs |
| Round trip from Woodlands (non-Malaysian) | S$5 + S$5 | ~S$10.00 | Return leg charged in SGD; pricier than two one-ways |
| Child under 4 | Free | Free | Register at counter before boarding |
Update, 14 October 2026: KTMB's own fare list has no RM16 round-trip product. A non-Malaysian round trip from Woodlands is charged S$5 each way, so the saving from two one-way tickets is about S$3.50, not the S$3 we gave, and the Woodlands counter takes KTM Wallet only, not cash. Book a round trip from Woodlands and KTMB charges the way back in Singapore dollars too, S$5 + S$5. Booking the legs separately, one S$5 ticket out and one RM5 ticket back, lands you at roughly S$6.50 for the round trip instead of S$10. On a family of four that is a JB meal.
Pay attention to the platform too. The official online channel is KTMB's Integrated Ticketing System, reachable at shuttleonline.ktmb.com.my. Tickets are released 30 days before the travel date, and on Fridays, weekends and the days around a Malaysian or Singapore public holiday the popular slots sell out within hours of release. Set a calendar reminder for exactly 30 days out and book the moment the window opens.
If you are routing the spend onto a card, a multi-currency or travel card avoids the foreign-transaction markup on the ringgit leg. We break down which cards waive that fee in best travel credit cards, and the broader day-trip budget in the Johor Bahru budget guide.
The KITS booking flow is short but unforgiving on passport details, because the passport is scanned as your boarding pass at the gate. Get a digit wrong and you may be turned back at Woodlands.
Update, 14 October 2026: Woodlands boarding gates open 40 minutes and close 20 minutes before departure, not 30 and 10, which are JB Sentral's times. The ride itself is five minutes. The realistic door-to-door figure is closer to 30 minutes once you factor in clearing two checkpoints, but that still beats sitting in a Causeway bus queue that can run past an hour on a bad weekend.
Woodlands-bound and JB-bound services do not mirror each other, so check the direction you need. As of June 2026 the Woodlands-to-JB Sentral services run from about 8:30am to 11:45pm, and JB Sentral-to-Woodlands services start earlier, from about 5:00am to 10:45pm, with gaps of roughly 15 to 75 minutes between trains. Confirm exact times on KTMB before you travel, as they adjust seasonally.
At Woodlands, boarding gates open 40 minutes before departure and close 20 minutes before. At JB Sentral they open 30 minutes before and close 10 minutes before, so arrive early. You clear immigration at your departure station: Singapore exit and Malaysian entry are both handled at Woodlands on the way out via the auto gates, then you simply walk off at JB Sentral. Your passport must have at least 30 days' validity from the travel date or you can be refused boarding.
On pure cost the train wins almost every time, and on a jam-prone weekend it wins on time too. The trade-off is rigidity: you are locked to a slot and a seat you booked up to a month ahead, while a bus lets you turn up and go. For spontaneous trips the public bus stays the flexible default; for a planned day trip the train is hard to beat.
Once you are across, the ringgit does the heavy lifting on your budget. A GST-free meal, a foot massage covered in our JB massage guide, or groceries all stretch further, which is the whole point of the crossing. Map the round trip against your monthly spend with our budget calculator so the savings do not evaporate at the mall.
| Option | Indicative cost | Time across | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| KTM Shuttle Tebrau | S$5 (SG to JB) | 5 min ride, ~30 min total | Cheapest, jam-proof, planned trips |
| Public bus (CW/causeway) | ~S$1 to S$5 | 20 to 60+ min in jams | Flexibility, no advance booking |
| Cross-border taxi | From S$80 (4-seater) | Varies with traffic | Groups, door-to-door, luggage |
| Drive your own car | VEP + toll + fuel + parking | Varies with jam | Full-day flexibility |
Update, 14 October 2026: the RTS Link's target start moved from December 2026 to February 2027. The Shuttle Tebrau is a stopgap. The Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System Link is the replacement: a dedicated cross-border metro between Woodlands North MRT and Bukit Chagar in JB. On 2 October 2026, LTA and Malaysia's Ministry of Transport said passenger service is now expected to start in February 2027. That still depends on final tests and trial runs finishing by 31 December 2026, then independent safety certification and approval from regulators in both countries.
Fares are expected to land between S$5 and S$7 one-way, broadly similar to the train today but with metro-style frequency rather than a 17-train daily timetable. The journey is again about five minutes, with co-located immigration at both stations so you clear once at your departure point. Capacity is the real upgrade: about 10,000 passengers per hour per direction at peak and roughly 40,000 a day at launch, versus the 320 seats a Shuttle Tebrau train carries now.
Practically, nothing changes your trips for the rest of 2026. Keep booking the KTM train. But if you are planning travel for 2027, watch for the RTS Link opening before you lock in habits, because turn-up-and-go metro frequency removes the 30-days-out booking scramble entirely.
The KTM Shuttle Tebrau costs S$5 one-way from Woodlands to JB Sentral and RM5 (about S$1.50) one-way from JB Sentral back to Woodlands, both fixed by KTMB. Booking the two legs separately is cheaper than a round trip from Woodlands, which KTMB charges non-Malaysians at S$5 each way.
Tickets are released 30 days before the travel date on KTMB's online system at shuttleonline.ktmb.com.my. Weekend, Friday and public-holiday slots routinely sell out within hours, so book the moment the 30-day window opens for those dates.
The ride between Woodlands and JB Sentral is five minutes. Allow roughly 30 minutes door to door once you account for clearing immigration at your departure station, which is still faster than a Causeway bus queue on a busy weekend.
Yes. Your passport is scanned as your boarding pass, so the name and number on your ticket must match it exactly. KTMB requires at least 30 days of passport validity from your travel date, or you can be refused boarding at the gate.
Yes, eventually. The RTS Link between Woodlands North and Bukit Chagar is now expected to start passenger service in February 2027, with fares around S$5 to S$7 and far higher frequency. Until it opens, the KTM Shuttle Tebrau remains the only cross-border train.
This is general financial information for Singapore, not personal financial advice. Figures change, so verify current rates against the official sources above before acting. See our full disclaimer.
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