Singapore and Malaysia have announced the reopening of land borders between the two countries from next Monday 29 November.
The reopening was hinted at last week following the news that a Vaccinated Travel Lane scheme would be launched on the same day for air travel between Changi Airport and Kuala Lumpur International Airport, but was only confirmed on Wednesday.
“Very glad that Singapore and Malaysia will be reopening our land borders this coming Monday, 29 November,” said Singapore’s Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, in a social media post.
“Vaccinated Travel Lane across the Causeway will begin on the same day as the VTL between Changi Airport and KLIA.
“The Causeway was one of the busiest land borders in the world before COVID-19. The launch of the VTL (Land) is a big step towards reconnecting our people and economies. As cross-border travel between Singapore and Malaysia gradually resumes, this will help rejuvenate our long-standing relations with Malaysia and further enhance our bilateral relationship.”
The land VTL will initially allow 2,880 crossing each day with 1,440 in each direction using designated bus services and without the need for quarantine pending provision of a negative COVID-19 test obtained within the previous 48 hours.
Priority will be given to workers looking to visit family although Singapore officials said Wednesday the scheme could be expanded to include travellers in the near future.
Before being closed in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Causeway saw around 415,000 crossings every day.
Its reopening also comes as a welcome boost for Singapore’s integrated resorts, Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa, with analysts estimating that around 25% of Singapore’s VIP volume and mass market GGR comes from Malaysia. Most of those mass market players enter by land.
