SINGAPORE, Aug 1 — Malaysian buses ferrying factory workers into Singapore staged a strike early this morning at the Johor checkpoint to protest new toll charges imposed by the Malaysian government.

Today newspaper said the Malaysian authorities confirmed to Channel NewsAsia reporter Sumisha Naidu later in the morning that the strike had ended.

Meanwhile, Chinese daily Sinchew reported that the traffic situation had returned to normal by 8am, after the local authorities promised to look into the revised toll charges.

Today also reported today that MediaCorp Hotline had received at least five calls about the incident early this morning. A caller who only gave his name as Tan was quoted as saying he saw many Malaysian-registered buses ferrying factory workers from Johor stopped their vehicles at Johor Checkpoint, refusing to continue their journey into Singapore at Woodlands.

Tan was also quoted by Today as saying the strike by the bus drivers caused heavy traffic congestion at the Johor Checkpoint. Factory workers had to disembark at the Malaysian CIQ (Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex) and walk a long distance into Singapore to board buses to their workplace.

Another caller said the congestion at the Malaysian CIQ had also affected school children travelling into Singapore. He said most of them would be late for school this morning.

Today said Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) sent an advisory at 8.05am saying that bus services 160, 170, 170X and 950 had halted services to Johor Baru until further notice.

The advisory said the suspension was due to a “protest against increase in Malaysian toll fees by Malaysian bus operators which impeded flow of bus traffic through the Johor Bahru Checkpoint.”

By 9.40am, the LTA had updated that services 170, 170X and 160 had resumed “partial service” into Johor, while service 950 had resumed full service.