I was excited when I heard from my Malaysian friends that Suasana Edaran Express was planning to enter Singapore. Even more so, with brand new double-deckers specially customised for this route. Suasana Edaran Express is already an established player on the popular Seremban-Kuala Lumpur sector. On my previous trips to KL, I’ve always been personified with their silver-red livery buses. Their buses were always spanking clean and I’ve that impression that it has to be one of the better bus companies anywhere in Malaysia. I’ve got to hitch a ride on Suasana Edaran, when the opportunity arises. The timing has never been better, than now.

Suasana Edaran ticketing and lounge at ParkRoyal Hotel, Singapore

Promotional banner at the entrance

Suasana Edaran’s Singapore office is located at the ParkRoyal Hotel Shopping Arcade, just behind Mustafa Centre at Little India. I made my way down to the office to book my seat almost a week in advance. Not being kiasu (Chinese for ’fear of losing’) or anything, just that I want to make sure that my preferred seat is not taken by others. The preferred seat that I booked was the first row of the upper deck, appropriately dubbed ‘Gunzel Seat’ by one of my bus enthusiast friend. I was served by the Manager/Director of the local office, Mr Vinod, who was very friendly, accommodating and always patient in answering my queries. There were several other prospective customers who were asking questions of their own, and Mr Vinod ensures that all of them have their questions answered. Only cash payment was acceptable as their credit card machines are yet to be set up, which is understandable for a new company, so it was not much of a problem to me. Once the ticket was issued, Mr Vinod gave me the assurance that he will personally call me should any problems crop up. He also requested that I call the office, or even him, if I were to be late for the bus and the bus will wait for me. Now that’s what I call personalised service. Excellent.

I wasn’t late for the bus on the day of departure. In fact, I was quite early. It was 11.10am and I was just outside the hotel when my handphone rang. It was Suasana Edaran. I confirmed that I will be checking-in very soon. The ticketing office is also where the passenger’s waiting lounge is located. Upon entering the office, it’s noticeable that there were no one else except for the bus’ crew. I asked the ticketing staff and she confirmed that I will be the only passenger for the 11.30am trip to Kuala Lumpur (KL). Pleasantly surprised indeed. I get to charter a whole double-decker bus to KL for only S$45! I opted to wait outside so that I can snap a few more shots of the bus before departing.

The bus that brought me to KL was KCH6, a Scania K124EB with a horsepower rating of 420bhp. In fact, all of the double-decker buses on the Singapore route are of this model. The e128d Twindex bodywork is manufactured by sksBus. It seats a maximum of 34 passengers; 28 on the upper deck and 6 on the lower deck. The seating in the coach are arranged in the ‘2+1′ configuration, which means a row of single seats on the nearside of the coach, and a row of double-seats on the offside of the coach. Every seat comes with a personal LCD TV with multi-channel entertainment and video games, massage function and adjustable leg-rest. The reclining and leg-rest functions of the seats are however, manually operated. Food and drinks are also served onboard by the coach attendant.

To KL onboard KCH6 - Scania K124EB 420 (sksBus e128d Twindex)

Rear-view of KCH6

 

34-Seater, Personal TV, Seat Belts, Multi-Channel Entertainment, Massage Seats, Video Games, Coach Attendant with F&B Service

The bus left ParkRoyal Hotel 15 minutes behind schedule. I was a bit agitated because I was told that the bus will leave on time. Just like any other direct KL-Singapore express service, the bus used Tuas Second Link to get to Malaysia. Immigration clearance at both the Singapore and Malaysia checkpoints was a breeze as there were no other buses that were passing through at that time.

While onboard the bus, something unpleasant caught my eye. Rubbish left behind by other passengers were still on the seats. It seemed that the attendant did not bother to clean up the bus for the next trip. The leather upholstery which lined the windows were also torn. Apart from some rubbish, the bus was considerably clean. The seat was very comfortable and large enough for a plus-sized passenger in my opinion. The reclinable seat also comes with a leg rest. However, I was a tad disappointed that the reclining function is manually-operated. It may not be a big problem but for regulars on the KL-Singapore express buses, this may seem a step back in time. I have not come across a manually-operated reclining seat on any KL-Singapore express buses, at least not yet. The massaging functions are of course, automatically-operated with a touch of a button. I am not a fan of massage seats so I was not too keen to try it out. The only good thing I like was the aircon. 

28 seats on the upper-deck

The 'Gunzel Seats'

The TV sets were only switched on after we passed the Malaysia checkpoint. It is a Singapore regulation that the TV sets cannot be switched on while in Singapore. Video-On-Demand are not available on the bus. Instead, four movies were shown simultaneously on the LCD screens. ‘Wanted’, ‘The Fast and The Furious’ and ‘Kungfu Panda’ were among those shown. The movies shown were decent enough to keep me occupied throughout the journey. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to find any indication of the games offered. In any case, watching ‘Wanted’ was already good enough for me.

Lunch was served soon after we left the Senai Utara Toll Plaza. Piping hot Nasi Sambal Udang (Rice with Spicy Chilli Prawns) and a bottle of mineral water was the offer for the day. I am not a big fan of seafood and so obviously I was little bit disappointed. Nevertheless, the food was above average. At the point of booking, I was told that free-flow of coffee and tea will be served onboard. However, those were not served. I wasn’t even asked if I’d like any. I’ve to rely on the mineral water to quench my thirst on the journey.

Nasi Sambal Udang (Rice with Spicy Chilli Prawns) was served for lunch

After a speedy journey on the North-South Highway, the bus reached Sungai Besi Toll Plaza at around 4.00pm. Soon after the bus left the toll plaza, the coach attendant approached me and asked for my preferred disembarkation point. There will be two such ‘drop-off’ points in KL; KL Sentral and Puduraya Bus Station. I chose the latter since it’s closer to my hotel. It was 4.20pm when the bus finally reached Puduraya. In all, the journey took only 4 hours and a half, which in my standards, exceptionally fast! No way you could beat that travelling on an airplane.

In a nutshell, the experience travelling on Suasana Edaran was up to my expectation, if not better. They could have done better on certain aspects, particularly on the cleanliness of the bus and the attentiveness of the coach attendant. However, I’ve to give credit for the hospitality and the attentiveness of the staff at the Singapore ticketing office, who have performed above my expectations. I would also like to see more varieties of entertainment programmes being shown on the entertainment system. The food was nice but it looks like something which was bought from the stalls and not from a caterer. They should also ensure that choice of drinks be offered to passengers onboard, even if there is only one travelling.

I’d also like to applaud their daringness to enter the highly-competitive Singapore-Kuala Lumpur route. It is good for Suasana Edaran to promote their services as it seemed that only a handful knows of its existence in Singapore. Hopefully, the online ticketing at EZ Bus will be available soon. I for one, would love to see Suasana Edaran to be on par with the rest of the Big Boys.

Your trip more comfortable with TopClass!

I will give Suasana Edaran Express TopClass a 3.5 out of 5 stars.

 

Contact details:
Singapore – Suasana Edaran Pte Ltd
ParkRoyal Hotel Shopping Arcade, Units 01-18/20
Kitchener Road, behind Mustafa Centre
Tel: +65-6296 2666

Kuala Lumpur – Suasana Edaran Sdn Bhd
Kaunter 41, Hentian Puduraya
Tel: +603-2072 2666

Pulau Pinang (Penang) – Suasana Edaran Sdn Bhd
Kaunter 12, Terminal Bas Ekspres Sungai Nibong
Tel: +604-657 6666 

Ticket Price (Singapore to Kuala Lumpur):
Adult: S$45 (one-way), S$85 (return)
Child: S$30 (one-way)

Online Ticketing:
http://www.ezbus.com.my

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