I’ve bought a return trip ticket to KL for the Feb 11 weekend. This will be my first time taking the overnight train in Malaysia.
I named the trip the “KL light bulb trip” because I’m joining N and her boyfriend (whom I’ve not met) who are both coming in from overseas. “Light bulb” in colloquial Chinese means a third person among a couple. (Coincidentally, my first overnight train trip in China was with N.)
Since I call myself a frugal traveller, here’s a tip for those who are considering taking the train from Singapore to KL (or even Thailand). “Leave from JB SENTRAL instead of Woodlands”.
I bought my return trips in two stages: JB-KL and KL-SG (Woodlands) which costs only RM79 in total (RM39+RM40). You’d pay double if you bought a SG-KL-SG ticket. Here’s why:
As you can see from the combined screen shots above. The red rectangle is the price leaving from Singapore (in SGD) and the none bracketed one is the train leaving from JB. Trains leaving from Singapore are charged in S$ (S$1 to RM2.4) and also for the return trip if bought at one go.
By taking a bus ride (Here’s another tip about which bus company to choose) across the bridge, I’ve saved more than RM40 one way on the second class sleeper!! Why the hell did KTM started that strange pricing to begin with???!
The train also saves me money because if I leave Singapore by bus around 11.30pm, it would cost me S$30 (instead of RM39 on the train). Sure leaving from Larkin, JB would save me money but JB’s night reputation isn’t terrible good.
With the night trains, I’ll be able to theoretically zzz during the night and reach in the day instead of wasting my day on the bus.
UPDATE: My post on the train trip is up.
YQtravelling 
Hi YQ, thanks for your post. It is highly informative and very helpful. My parents and sisters are travelling this December and your post is the best info I have read on how best (and cheap) to travel overnight from Singapore to KL. Kudos and more power. Thanks for people like you who share important information on the web, the world has become more manageable (and affordable) to travel – Mike M
Hello Mike, thanks for the lovely comment. There’s an even more important post on taking trains for SG-MY, in case you’ve missed it. https://yqtravelling.com/2012/02/15/tips-on-taking-train-from-singapore-to-malaysia/
-YQ