Rain worsens congestion along Causeway, woman reportedly faints in bus queue on M'sia side

Rainy conditions in Johor Bahru and Singapore during the March school holiday period worsened congestion at the Causeway land crossing on Mar. 19.

One commuter reportedly fainted while queuing for a bus at the Malaysia side.

Congestion

At 3:52pm on Mar. 19, the Immigration Checkpoint of Authority (ICA) said on Facebook that there was heavy departure traffic at Woodlands Checkpoint due to tailback from Malaysia.

Tailback refers to a long queue of stationary or slow-moving traffic.

ICA advised travellers to expect delays and to check traffic conditions before starting their journeys.

At close to 5pm, the Jalanow website estimated the crossing from JB to Singapore would take one hour and 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, those crossing from Singapore to JB could expect a 38-minute commute.

ICA previously said in an advisory that heavy traffic is expected at the Woodlands and Tuas checkpoints from Friday, Mar. 14 to Monday, Mar. 24, due to the March school holidays.

Commuter fainted in bus queue

Amidst the rain on Wednesday, bus bays at the JB immigration complex were crowded with commuters waiting for a bus to enter Singapore, China Press reported.

A woman appeared to have fainted while waiting in line for the bus there.

Emergency personnel were seen attending to a person on the ground next to a line of people queuing up.

The situation also caused tempers to flare.

In a video circulating to Facebook, an argument broke out between two men in a crowd waiting to board a bus at the CIQ building.

The two men pushed and grabbed each other at points, while gesticulating.

The dispute appeared to have been about queue-cutting.

At 5:06pm, ICA posted an update that the tailback of departure traffic from Malaysia at Woodlands Checkpoint has subsided.

Top image from Wei Ern/Facebook & China Press