JOHOR BAHRU: A system glitch has caused immigration autogates at the two Johor–Singapore land checkpoints to crash, leaving tens of thousands of travellers stuck in long queues and facing lengthy delays.
According to The Star, as quoted by Free Malaysia Today (FMT), travellers had to wait up to two hours to clear immigration at the Bangunan Sultan Iskandar (BSI) customs, immigration and quarantine complex in Johor Bahru. The situation reportedly worsened after ongoing technical issues over the past few days culminated in a full system crash, just as large numbers of travellers crossed the Causeway from Singapore.
While the disruption affected many foreign travellers, including Singaporeans, Malaysians were reportedly still able to use the autogates, and clearance systems for motorcycles and cars continued to operate normally.
Second Link also affected, but less severe
At the Sultan Abu Bakar Complex at the Second Link in Iskandar Puteri, autogates were also affected. However, officials said the situation there was more manageable compared to BSI.
An official was quoted by FMT as saying that even the autogates at the KTM station at BSI were offline. He described it as the first major disruption this year, adding that the timing was particularly unfortunate as Johor expects an influx of visitors under Visit Malaysia and Visit Johor 2026.
In response to the glitch, the Border Control and Protection Agency has been ordered to deploy manual counters to help clear the backlog and ease congestion.
Netizens share frustration and concern
The incident sparked discussion on Reddit, with users sharing both frustration and concern over the reliability of border systems.
“This would ruin the RTS,” one netizen commented, referring to the upcoming Johor Bahru–Singapore Rapid Transit System and the importance of smooth immigration clearance.
Another wrote, “Autogates have been a godsend in making border crossings easier. I hope Malaysia sorts this out,” highlighting how dependent frequent travellers have become on automated systems.
Some took the situation more lightly. “I cannot stop laughing. I planned to go over this weekend, but people backed out. So trip postponed,” one Redditor shared.
Others reported experiencing similar issues firsthand. “I was just at Tuas at 3 p.m. today with the bus, and the autogate didn’t work. It recognised the passports but lagged at the ‘reading passport, hold still’ screen,” a user said.
As cross-border travel continues to pick up, the disruption has shown how crucial stable and reliable immigration systems are, especially during peak travel periods and major tourism campaigns.
Read also: Regent of Johor signals strong growth and investment momentum for the state in 2026
