Old Woodlands railway station In 1903, the former
Woodlands railway station opened as an extension of the original line on the
Singapore–Kranji Railway to . Upon the opening of the
Johor–Singapore Causeway in 1923, the station was relocated along a more direct route to the causeway the following year. The station closed in the mid-1930s.
New Woodlands Train Checkpoint station In 1990, a new station in Woodlands was proposed to replace as the Singapore terminus of the
KTM West Coast railway line. Constructed from 1992 to 1997, the Woodlands Train Checkpoint was opened on 1 August 1998 to become the new Singapore border control facility for rail passengers.
Border control issues At the time of the opening of the new station, there were no boarding facilities, as northbound passengers heading towards Malaysia were required to clear Malaysia's customs and immigration at Tanjong Pagar, and northbound trains stopped at the Woodlands Train Checkpoint for Singapore exit immigration checks only. However, southbound passengers could disembark after clearing Singapore's customs and immigration at the Woodlands Train Checkpoint, as they had already cleared Malaysian customs and immigration at the old Johor Bahru railway station (which was subsequently replaced by ). Until 1998, both Malaysia and Singapore had their customs and immigration facilities for rail passengers at Tanjong Pagar. Singapore decided to relocate its customs and immigration facilities to Woodlands despite Malaysia's unwillingness to vacate the Tanjong Pagar railway station according to the
Malaysia–Singapore Points of Agreement of 1990. The Singaporean
Immigration and Checkpoints Authority ceased operations at Tanjong Pagar and moved into the Woodlands Train Checkpoint on 1 August 1998. While providing immigration facilities for southbound passengers at JB Sentral, Malaysian customs and immigration clearance for northbound passengers remained at Tanjong Pagar, refusing to relocate to either the Woodlands Train Checkpoint or JB Sentral. This peculiarity resulted in passengers travelling to Malaysia being granted entry to Malaysia before being granted exit from Singapore, which is contrary to international practice. To circumvent the problem, Malaysian Immigration officers in Tanjong Pagar did not stamp passports, instead the passports were scanned into a computer system, and passengers were provided with a stamped embarkation/disembarkation card to be retained until leaving Malaysia. This still posed problems for some visitors when leaving Malaysia due to the lack of a physical endorsement in their passports, especially for those who lost the card while in Malaysia. The border control issues were resolved in 2010 following an agreement between Malaysia and Singapore to permanently close the Tanjong Pagar railway station as well as the Woodlands-Tanjong Pagar railway line. KTM services, together with Malaysian customs and immigration, relocated their operations to the Woodlands Train Checkpoint on 1 July 2011. The Woodlands Train Checkpoint subsequently became the southern terminus of the
KTM West Coast Line.
Present Today, northbound passengers clear both Singapore's and Malaysia's customs and immigration at the Woodlands Train Checkpoint before boarding the train for Malaysia, while southbound passengers clear Malaysian customs and immigration at JB Sentral and Singapore customs and immigration at Woodlands Train Checkpoint. The station will be closed by mid-2027 in conjunction with the opening of the new
Johor Bahru–Singapore Rapid Transit System, as well as to make way for the expansion of
Woodlands Checkpoint. This will mark the complete withdrawal of KTM from Singapore. ==Train services==