There are a few kinds of buses in Malaysia. You have the inter-city buses that take you from one town to another.
I’ve always taken the bus to Kluang from Larkin. Many times I considered taking the train instead, but in the end, I still choose to go by bus.
With the bus, I leave JB later, and arrive at Kluang earlier. It has a longer waiting time, yet it is still faster than taking the train.
For short rides like this, taking the bus is better. But if I were travelling further, I would prefer to take the train, as there is better access to toilet and food.
How to get to Larkin Sentral from Causeway
When you have cleared immigration, follow the stream of people forward. Then, where most people turn left to go towards JB Sentral and City Square, you go straight instead and down the escalator.
At the bottom of the escalator, there are two queues for buses. One bus service number is 160, which goes to JB Sentral. Not this one.
The other one is for bus service number 170, which goes to Larkin. Sometimes you have to wait for about 15-20 minutes for the bus to come. It’s fine.
Sometimes another bus will come and everyone else will rush to board that one instead. It’s usually a private transport company bus that also goes to Larkin.
I don’t normally board it, as I prefer to take 170.
The bus ride to Larkin is usually about 10 minutes.
How to buy a bus ticket
At Larkin Sentral, where the bus station is, you can either queue up to buy a ticket using cash, or you can go to one of the many cashless ticketing machines.
It’s fairly straight forward to use this system, especially if you’ve bought a bus ticket before. If not, here’s what you need to do.
First, you need to select the origin station, which is Johor – Larkin, if it’s not already pre-selected for you.
Then you need to choose the destination. They are organised first by state, then by alphabetical order.
Next you need to choose the bus timing. Sometimes there is more than one bus at a particular timing, but by different transportation companies.
Now you will need to choose your seat number. The layout is presented to you, and you choose an empty seat.
Finally you need to make payment. This is the only part that is not intuitive, and frustrated me to no end the first time I used this machine, before figuring it out.
When the screen says, “Transaction processing…”, that is when it is time to make payment. Either scan your QR code near the bottom of the machine, or tap your card on the side panel with the numbered key pad.
Once payment is made, the machine prints out your ticket and you’re good to go.
That’s part of the challenge.
The next part comes from taking the bus itself.
30 minutes before your scheduled bus departure, scan your QR code at the scanner at the entrance of the waiting area, and you can enter.
Larkin bus station has been improving by leaps and bounds since I first started taking the bus 5 years ago.
The current system is that the bus timings are displayed on one of two flat screens near the doors.
Check your bus timing, and wait for your bus to show ‘boarding’. You can also wait for them to make announcements in Malay and English over the public address system, and they will also tell you which berth to go to.
Sometimes your bus will be late, in which case you just have to wait. But this usually affects those coming from further destinations.
I’ve never had to wait for my bus before, but I did miss my bus once — the first time I went to Kluang alone, because I didn’t understand the system then.
If you do miss your bus, then you just have to go outside and buy a new ticket.
Once you’re on the bus, sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.
Daniel Tay 