S’pore checkpoints see massive jams before Good Friday long weekend with more than 4 hours’ wait

Motorists & people caught in jams at both Woodlands & Tuas checkpoints before Good Friday

UPDATE (29 March, 1.36pm): The Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said 510,000 travellers passed through the Woodlands and Tuas Checkpoints on Thursday (28 March). This is the “highest recorded number of travellers using the land checkpoints in a single day”, it added.

Traffic is expected to remain heavy at both checkpoints from 29 to 31 March. On 31 March, travellers who have left Singapore are expected to return, so arrival traffic is also expected to be heavy, according to ICA.

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As predicted, both Woodlands and Tuas checkpoints saw traffic congestion ahead of the Good Friday long weekend.

On Thursday (28 March) evening, massive jams started forming as motorists and commuters flocked to cross the border into Malaysia.

The sheer vehicular volume resulted in waiting times of more than four hours to get into Johor Bahru (JB).

ICA warned of jams at both checkpoints before Good Friday

As Good Friday is on 29 March this year, the long weekend officially started on Thursday (28 March) as border crossers got an early start.

On Monday (25 March), the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) warned of “very heavy traffic” at both checkpoints due to the upcoming public holiday.

Heavy traffic expected at Woodlands & Tuas checkpoints due to upcoming public holidays & festivals: ICA

It said that during the peak period of the recent March school holidays, travellers departing by car had to wait up to three hours before they were cleared immigration.

Good Friday jams at checkpoints start from 28 March afternoon

Sure enough, as early as 3.47pm on Thursday (28 March), ICA posted on Facebook that there was very heavy departure traffic at both checkpoints.

It resulted in long tailbacks of vehicles, with estimated delays of up to two hours and more.

This was reflected by the situation on the ground, with a netizen from the 柔新关卡Both Checkpoint 分享站 Facebook group, which shares border crossing information, reporting a build-up of motorcycles at 3.43pm.

A human crowd was also starting to form at Johor immigration at 4.28pm, with several travellers carrying luggage.

At 4.37pm, a long queue was spotted at Kranji MRT station, where people usually take bus 170 to cross the Causeway.

Waiting time increased to three & more hours

At 5.03pm, ICA increased the estimated waiting time to up to three hours and more.

A netizen driving into Johor via Tuas, posting at 5.07pm, said he got caught in a long queue just after crossing the bridge.

At 5.28pm, the queue of vehicles had stretched far down the Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE).

It was no better for those on foot, with people queuing all the way out to the pedestrian bridge leading to the departure hall at Woodlands at 5.50pm.

Farther ahead, the departure hall was so crowded at 5.55pm that people couldn’t even get in.

At 6.20pm, the crowd at the bridge had seemingly come to almost a standstill.

At 6.42pm, the human jam extended to the Woodlands Train Checkpoint.

Waiting time extended to four & more hours

At 6.53pm, ICA extended the waiting time to up to four hours and more.

The vehicle queue at Woodlands stretched back beyond the Seletar Expressway (SLE) exit, according to ICA. The scene at 7.01pm was dire indeed:

Those who wanted to take bus 950 from Woodlands Bus Interchange were also affected, as the queue to get on at 7pm was so long that it folded back upon itself.

Those who managed to take the bus were met with a crushing crowd when they alighted at Woodlands Checkpoint.

A netizen lamented at 7.39pm that there were so many people that it was impossible to even more.

As night fell, the traffic situation failed to improve at Woodlands as of 7.52pm.

A similar story was unfolding in Tuas at 7.49pm, with vehicles packing the bridge with seemingly no end in sight.

Unsurprisingly, the human crowd at JB customs was equally large, with the hall filled to the brim at 7.45pm.

At 8.25pm, some people were seen crossing the Causeway on foot rather than waiting in traffic.

Back in Singapore, a long queue had formed at Tuas Link MRT, comprising those attempting to cross the border via the Second Link.

Jams at checkpoints last till Good Friday early morning

As the night wore on, the queues remained strong even till the wee hours of the morning.

At Kranji MRT, a snaking queue that stretched to outside the station was seen at 10.40pm.

The vehicular queues also failed to abate. At 11.16pm, checkpoint.sg estimated that it would take up to 155 minutes (two hours 35 minutes) to get to JB via Woodlands and a whopping 280 minutes (four hours 40 minutes) to get across via Tuas.

Even shortly after midnight, there was a forbidding crowd at Woodlands attempting to squeeze onto buses to JB.

At the ungodly hour of 1.13am in Tuas, the queue was so long that the head couldn’t be seen, a netizen said.

At 2.45am, ICA posted that there was still very heavy departure traffic at both checkpoints despite the time.

While the waiting time was slightly shorter, the delay was still estimated to be up to three hours or more.

To expedite the immigration clearance process, ICA has also urged car travellers to use QR codes instead of handing over their passports.

Also read: Car travellers can use QR codes to clear immigration at S’pore land checkpoints from 19 March

Car travellers can use QR codes to clear immigration at S’pore land checkpoints from 19 March

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Featured image adapted from Chin Tong on Facebook and Zhi Liang on Facebook via 柔新关卡Both Checkpoint 分享站.