JB Bus & Train Guide: Getting to Kulai District, Johor (柔佛.古来)

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 or Kota Tinggi, 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 from JB Sentral to some districts in Johor, including Kulai District (古来), but is rather limited. However, they can be useful in certain situations.

Bus Services

If you intend to travel from Singapore to Kulai using public bus services, cross the Causeway to Johor Bahru, exit JB CIQ checkpoint and proceed to the bus terminal below JB Sentral.

Read: JB Bus Guide: Singapore to JB Sentral or City Square in Johor Bahru

From JB Sentral Bus Terminal, take BAS.MY T30 to Kulai District. The service will terminate at Kulai Terminal, taking about 1 hour travelling time at 30 minutes interval via Skudai Highway. See service route at Causeway Link website.

Note that BAS.MY T30 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 F300 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. It takes around 1 hour for BAS.MY T30 to travel from JB Sentral to Kulai Terminal. If you are familiar with the bus route, drop off at the bus stop nearer to your destination instead of alighting at the terminal.

To go further north in Kulai, beyond the coverage of BAS.MY T30 and F300, go to Larkin Sentral Platform A04 and take City Bus 2 that is bounded for Ayer Hitam. It will also make a brief stop at Kulai Bus Terminal. Alternatively, take BAS.MY T30 from JB Sentral to Kulai Bus Terminal and change to City Bus 2 to northern Kulai.

Read: JB Bus Guide: Singapore to Larkin Sentral in Johor, Malaysia

Train Services

During peak hours, traffic on the Skudai Highway can be very slow, especially during weekends and heading towards Johor Bahru around late afternoon. In such situations, it may be better to use train services between Kulai and JB Sentral, which takes about 45 minutes in each direction.

The new Kulai Train Station was completed and opened in March 2025. It is located about 300 metres from the old train station.

Note that the trains that go through Kulai Station are still the older KTM-Intercity trains. The newer and faster ETS trains will probably start operations along this route towards the end of 2025.

There are only 4 services in each direction per day:

• JB Sentral → Kulai @ 8:30am, 2:40pm, 6:05pm and 8:25pm

• Kulai → JB Sentral @ 5:42am, 11:38am, 1:30pm and 7:02pm

• Fare is RM11 per person one-way

Notice the large gap in timings in the "Kulai → JB Sentral" schedule in the afternoon? The most useful train service to skirt any peak-hour traffic congestion on the Skudai Highway is at 7:02pm.

Note: Train schedules are subjected to changes. Do refer to KTMB Online for up-to-date timings. To save the hassle of going to the train station to get tickets, download KTMB's official mobile app from respective app stores.

Do plan ahead and use either bus or train services to get to or from Kulai District.

More on Kulai District, Johor.