More than 20,000 people were queuing on the ticket portal of Handal Indah, one of the two operators that will serve the route when it opens on Nov 29.

Earlier today, the Malaysian bus company’s website had crashed due to the surge in traffic.

Meanwhile, Singapore-based Transtar Travel directed users to a “virtual waiting room” and said the ticket-purchase page would open when slots became available. “We are experiencing high user volume,” it said.

As many as 2,880 people a day will be allowed to travel in the initial phase of the reopening of the causeway linking Singapore and Johor Bahru, according to the details of the vaccinated travel lane (VTL) agreement announced yesterday. Each bus has a maximum capacity of 45 passengers.

Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, some 300,000 people crossed the land border each day, for work on the other side or tourism. Those who have been working in either country will get priority for tickets, the Singapore government said yesterday.

“Many workers from both Singapore and Malaysia have not been able to see their families for many months,” Singapore’s trade and industry minister Gan Kim Yong said in a statement.

“We seek the understanding of workers who may not be able to purchase a bus ticket to travel home immediately due to limited capacity.”

Transtar’s website showed all tickets for the next 30 days sold out in about 20 minutes, the Straits Times and Channel News Asia reported.