JB Bus & Train: To Kulai District, Johor (柔佛.古来)
- Rick
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
Getting to most places within Johor Bahru or to nearby districts in the state of Johor, Malaysia, is easy using local public bus services. While most long-distance bus services are available only from Larkin Sentral, shorter distance services to adjacent districts, such as Kulai District (古来) or Kota Tinggi (哥打丁宜), is accessible via JB Sentral, the transport hub nearest to Singapore and right beside JB CIQ checkpoint.
Apart from bus services, there are also train services between JB Sentral and Kulai District, but is rather limited.
Bus Services
Travelling from Singapore to Kulai is best executed using public bus services, cross the Causeway to Johor Bahru, exit JB CIQ checkpoint and proceed to the bus terminal below JB Sentral.
From JB Sentral Bus Terminal, take BAS.MY J30 to Kulai District. The service will terminate at Kulai Bus Terminal, taking about 1 hour travelling time at 15 minutes interval via Skudai Highway. See service route at Causeway Link website.
Note that BAS.MY J30 used to stop at two bus terminals in Kulai, but that was changed. The service will terminate at Kulai Terminal now (RM4.20). Take BAS.MY J300 to continue to Taman Putri Kulai Terminal.
Kulai Bus Terminal is the nearest bus terminal to the new Kulai Train Station (opened in March 2025 — see Train Services section below) and several clusters of eating places and cafes. If you are familiar with BAS.MY J30's route, drop off at the bus stop nearer to your destination instead of alighting at the bus terminal.
To go further north in Kulai, beyond the coverage of BAS.MY J30 and J300, use either of these options:
Go to Larkin Sentral Platform A04 and take City Bus 2 that is bounded for Ayer Hitam — at hourly interval. It will also make a brief stop at Kulai Bus Terminal.
Take BAS.MY J30 from JB Sentral to Kulai Bus Terminal and change to City Bus 2 to northern Kulai.
Train Services
Kulai Train Station, opened in March 2025, is located about 250 metres from the site of the old train station. Access the train station via the entrance (Gate B) nearer to Kulai Bus Terminal.
The trains that stop at Kulai Station include both the older, slower KTM Intercity trains and the newer, faster ETS trains.
Based on KTMB's booking platform, the current 4 KTM Intercity services, in each direction per day, will still be operational till 31 December 2025:
JB Sentral to Kulai: 8:30am, 2:40pm, 6:05pm and 8:25pm
Kulai to JB Sentral: 5:42am, 11:38am, 1:30pm and 7:02pm
Fare: RM11 per person (one-way)
Travelling Time: Around 46 minutes
Effective from 1 January 2026, KTM Intercity services will be as follow:
JB Sentral to Kulai: 9:05pm
Kulai to JB Sentral: 11:38am (on 1 Jan) / 10:52am (2 Jan onwards)
Fare: RM11 per person (one-way)
Travelling Time: Around 40 minutes
Effective from 12 December 2025, the newer and faster ETS trains will begin operation between JB Sentral and KL Sentral in Kuala Lumpur, it will stop at Kulai as follow:
JB Sentral to Kulai: N/A
Kulai to JB Sentral: 11:49am (11:59am from 1 Jan 2026) and 9:39pm
Fare: Flexi-Fare System
Travelling Time: 16 minutes
An odd thing to note is that the new ETS services departing from JB Sentral will stop at Kulai Station, to pick up passengers heading north, but no tickets for booking from JB Sentral to Kulai — use the cheaper domestic buses instead. However, tickets are available for those who wants to travel from Kulai Station to JB Sentral instead.
Note: Train schedules and fares are subject to changes, especially during periods of transition, do refer to KTMB Online for up-to-date timings / fares. To save the hassle of going to the train station to get tickets, download KTMB's official mobile app (KITS Style) from respective app stores.
Do plan ahead and use either bus or train services to get to / from Kulai District.
More: Kulai District, Johor.
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