Excited to head home: Grace Wong (centre) with her friends from Institute Perguruan Pahang waving as they head back to their hometowns for the upcoming Lunar New Year in Johor Baru. (Below) A large crowd of visitors seen entering Johor at Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Building ahead of the long weekend. — AZLINA ABDULLAH and THOMAS YONG/The Star
GEORGE TOWN: More vehicles on the roads, including buses, are expected this weekend in Penang as many people balik kampung for Chinese New Year.
This weekend, there are 50% more buses at Penang Sentral, the main bus station on mainland Penang and the hub for train and ferry transportation.
“Since Jan 19, traffic at Penang Sentral during this Chinese New Year season generally showed an upward pattern in the number of buses coming into the terminal.
“Bus trips have increased for this week between Jan 20 and Jan 22 by an estimated 25%, which is 626 trips, compared to last week, which saw as many as 502 trips.
“The number of tickets sold between Jan 20 and Jan 22 also increased by 50%, amounting to 1,977 compared to last week’s ticket sales of 1,318 tickets,” said a spokesperson from the terminal yesterday.
He said the popular routes are to the east coast, such as Kota Baru, Kuala Terengganu, Temerloh and Kuantan, as well as to the south, like Kuala Lumpur, Seremban, Melaka and Johor Baru.
Checks at the Sungai Nibong bus terminal, however, found it rather quiet, with few buses and passengers travelling for the Chinese New Year.
On the North-South Expressway (NSE) between Juru and Sungai Dua, traffic had been gradually building up but remained manageable as of 5pm yesterday.
Meanwhile in Johor, checks at the Bangunan Sultan Iskandar (BSI) Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex found a high volume of people, in particular Malaysians, coming back to celebrate Chinese New Year here.
