List of former bus stations in Singapore

This is a non-exhaustive listing of former bus interchanges or terminals that were once part of Singapore's bus system, and decommissioned due to geographical retention or the introduction of new town centres, or creation of consolidated transportation hubs.

Former bus interchanges

Bukit Panjang

Bukit Panjang Bus Interchange was a bus interchange that served Bukit Panjang. It was close to Bukit Panjang MRT/LRT Station. In 2012, the bus interchange was closed to make way to the Bukit Panjang Integrated Transport Hub. The hub opened in 2017.

Woodlands

Woodlands Bus Interchange was established to serve the developing northern corridor of Singapore in the early-1980s, and was strategically located next to the Woodlands Checkpoint & Customs, the gateway to Johor, Malaysia. The bus interchange was based along Woodlands Centre Road, the former town centre of the then newly created Woodlands New Town. Woodlands had since grew to become one of the most prosperous new towns and her parent GRC, Sembawang GRC, became the largest single GRC in Singapore.

The announcement to build the North-South Line MRT extension and the Woodlands MRT station that was scheduled to complete and open on 10 February 1996, accelerated plans to relocate and develop an entirely new town centre for Woodlands New Town at Woodlands Square, the new regional centre for Woodlands or more precisely, the entire Sembawang GRC. In late-1996, electronic display boards of TIBS buses serving the Woodlands Bus Interchange began to display notices that the TIBS Woodlands' fleet would be moving to the new interchange at Woodlands Square, Singapore's first mass underground bus interchange – Woodlands Regional Bus Interchange, conveniently located under the Woodlands MRT station, and is connected to Causeway Point with escalators. Woodlands Regional Bus Interchange was closed on 12 March 2016 to make way for Thomson-East Coast Line Construction Project.

Hougang South

Former Hougang South Bus Interchange, now called Kovan Hub

Hougang South Bus Interchange was a bus interchange, located in Hougang Street 21, which ceased operations on 13 February 2004. The interchange's structure continues to stand pending a major redevelopment of the site, and is currently called Kovan Hub. In the meantime, the vacated building is used to host exhibitions and for commercial purposes, and the bus lots as parking space.

The Hougang South Bus Interchange started operations as Hougang Bus Interchange, serving Hougang. The new town, at that time was just four neighbourhoods, with large tracts to the northwest of Upper Serangoon Road still undeveloped. The commercial centre at Hougang Street 21 thus served as a town centre. From the 1990s, however, the town was rapidly expanded with five more neighbourhoods constructed, and a new, permanent town centre further north was built. As is the case for all other bus interchanges (except the Eunos Bus Interchange) in which they are located in their respective town centres, the Hougang Bus Interchange was to be moved to the new town centre, while the existing facility will be demolished. Its bus services were then amended to terminate at either Serangoon, Hougang Central or Punggol.

When this plan was publicised, it created an uproar amongst the local populance, particularly shopowners in Hougang Street 21. With the help of local politicians, the protests were made to the relevant authorities, resulting in a delay in the interchange's closure. The government was adamant on removing the interchange, however, as it insists it makes little sense to have two bus interchanges in one town, and the opening of the Kovan MRT station on the North East Line will help to continue bringing in the crowds. It proceeded to build a new, permanent interchange, known as the Hougang Central Bus Interchange, and renamed the existing interchange as the Hougang South Bus Interchange. Although it no longer operates as a bus interchange, locals can still alight and disembark there as a bus stop.

Kovan Hub also serves as a transit stop for coaches to and from Malaysia with popular destinations such as Genting Highlands and Kuala Lumpur, most of which are of the Super VIP type.

Jurong

Jurong Bus Interchange was a bus interchange in Singapore, located at the junction of Jalan Ahmad Ibrahim and Jurong Port Road. It was completed in 1978 at a cost of S$1.2 million, and was the first bus station in Singapore built to serve feeder services, which were then being introduced as part of a rationalisation plan by the Singapore Bus Service.[1]

After it ceased operations in 1990, it functioned as a bus depot in the western part of Singapore before it was demolished when SBS Transit built a new multi storey bus depot along Soon Lee Road in the Jurong Industrial Area. Some services went to Boon Lay, or cut back to Jurong East and Clementi respectively.

Former bus terminals

Marine Parade

Marine Parade Bus Terminal was a bus terminal that served the Marine Parade and East Coast areas. It was constructed by the Singapore Bus Service in 1981 at a cost of $500,000, as part of its plan to eliminate roadside bus terminals. The terminal also allowed for more bus services to serve the Marine Parade area. However, the terminal's construction was opposed by residents of nearby housing estates due to concerns over noise pollution.[2] Consequently, SBS noted that the terminal would be "tastefully designed and properly landscaped", and the site was at least 220 metres away from the nearest housing estate.[3]

When the site was slated as the new site of Victoria School, the terminal was demolished to make way. Most services that used to terminate currently have to make a loop around the school site.

Before the terminal shifted to its former site in the 1980s, it was located at Marine Terrace within the Marine Parade housing estate. There were Services 15, 16 and 211. Service 15 converted into the current Service 196, Service 16 remains today with some changes, while Service 211 was a feeder service to Katong which was withdrawn in the early 1980s.

Marsiling

Marsiling Bus Terminal was the original bus terminal serving the entire north of Singapore, which was predominantly undeveloped and neglected in the course of developing the country's suburb throughout the 1960s till the 1980s. Development of this area started to sprout when former-Deputy Prime Minister Tony Tan became the MP for Sembawang, and pledged to develop Sembawang into a prosperous suburb. This allowed for the creation of the Woodlands New Town and the entire extension of Woodlands from the original old town centre at Woodlands Centre Road and the integration of Marsiling, a small estate of only around 20 4-storeys HDB blocks, into the new town.

Woodlands New Town was speedily developing in the mid-1980s and first plans to build an entirely new bus interchange to replace the relatively small Marsiling Bus Terminal surfaces after Woodlands become part of the new Sembawang GRC in 1988. By the mid-1990s, the Woodlands Bus Interchange based at Woodlands Centre Road was fully functional. Marsiling Bus Terminal continued operations with Services 950, 951, 952 with Service 950 plying the route to Shenton Way, Service 951 to Boon Lay and Service 952 to Marina Centre, were periodically moved to the new bus interchange. The closure of the bus terminal comes as TIBS axed the 95x services, in favour of the new 96x services that served the downtown city areas.

Sin Ming Road

Sin Ming Road Bus Terminal was a bus terminal located along Sin Ming Road in Bishan New Town. A victim of rapid urban development and shifting demographics, it was relegated from the main terminal serving the Sin Ming and Upper Thomson area, until the development of Bishan resulted in a reconfiguration of the urban makeup and shifted the population towards the east, where the Bishan Bus Interchange was built in the new town centre. Service 130, the only service operated by Singapore Bus Services which used to terminate at this terminal was amended to call at Ang Mo Kio Bus Interchange instead. The terminal was then handed over to the management of TIBS Holdings, which operates SSB's CSS Service 605 (formerly Service 5) to the terminal.

However, when the terminal was under the management of SSB, SBS introduced a new feeder Service 353 (Sin Ming Road – Bishan Street 31, now known as Sin Ming Avenue) in 1988 to ply from Sin Ming Road to the new satellite town of Bishan. In 1989, the service was re-routed to start from Bishan Bus Interchange, renumbered as Service 57 and withdrawn subsequently.

The terminal was one of the few surviving terminals of the 1970s era in which it was common for terminals to be built along the road side with only a small booth for drivers to report when completing their runs.

Somapah

Somapah Bus Terminal was a bus terminal located near the present Singapore Expo Hall 7 carpark, at the junction of Upper Changi Road East and Simei Road. It was opened as Somapah Bus Interchange in 1982 and closed in 1989.

The terminal was originally a bus maintenance and refuelling depot owned by the then Associated Bus Company that ran two services, numbered 1 and 2, from Changi Point to the city.

Currently it is being used as a temporary storage depot for construction equipment and materials for the rapidly developing Changi Business Park, which was once Somapah Village.

Taman Jurong

Taman Jurong Bus Terminal as of March 2015

Taman Jurong Bus Terminal was a bus terminal located in Taman Jurong. It opened in 2013 when the new bus service 49 was introduced from Taman Jurong to Jurong West Street 41.[4] On 22 November 2015, it was demolished as the bus service 49 was extended to Jurong East.[5]

However, the bus service still passes through Taman Jurong Town as of today.

Others

Site of former Jalan Kayu Bus Terminal
  • Admiralty Road West: relocated to Sembawang Bus Interchange.
  • Bukit Panjang: Relocated to Bukit Panjang Bus Interchange.
  • Chai Chee: Relocated to Bedok Bus Interchange in 1985.[6]
  • Commonwealth Drive
  • Crawford Street: Relocated to Lorong 1 Geylang Bus Terminal in 1998.
  • Delta Road
  • Jalan Eunos
  • Jalan Kayu: The main bus bay was closed and demolished in 2003.
  • Labrador
  • Lim Chu Kang Road End: Now becoming the looping point for SMRT Buses Service 975, Which is the only service that plies the area.
  • MacPherson: Relocated to Eunos Bus Interchange in 1990.
  • NTI
  • Old Upper Thomson: Converted to a public car park.
  • Potong Pasir
  • Prince Edward Road: Relocated to Shenton Way Bus Terminal.
  • Princess Elizabeth: The whole neighbourhood (Hillview) was demolished years after the closure of the terminal.
  • Punggol Road End: Converted to a bus stop.
  • Redhill Close
  • Rumah Tinggi: Now becoming the looping point for SBS Transit Service 63, which terminated at the terminal previously.
  • Sembawang (Sembawang Road; junction of Mandai Road)
  • Sembawang Road End: Relocated to Sembawang Bus Interchange.
  • Sengkang: Relocated to Sengkang Bus Interchange.
  • Serangoon Gardens: Relocated to Serangoon Bus Interchange in 1987.[7]
  • Singapore Zoological Gardens: Converted to a bus stop.
  • South Canal
  • Tampines Avenue 5: Relocated to Tampines Bus Interchange in 1987.
  • Teban Gardens (old Jurong Depot, Penjuru Road)
  • Tuas (Pioneer Road)
  • Ulu Pandan: Converted to a seafood restaurant, original layout retained in 1988.
  • Upper Changi
  • Upper Serangoon Road End: Relocated to Hougang Central Bus Interchange in 1994.

See also

References

  1. "SBS's $1.2m Jurong terminal". The Straits Times. Singapore. 5 April 1978. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  2. "Terminal being built by SBS". New Nation. Singapore. 14 February 1981. p. 2. Retrieved 7 September 2018 via NewspaperSG.
  3. "SBS assurance on Marine Parade depot". The Straits Times. Singapore. 17 February 1981. p. 6. Retrieved 7 September 2018 via NewspaperSG.
  4. "New bus service 49 for Jurong West to be added this month". The Straits Times. 4 December 2013. Retrieved 2016-05-30.
  5. "New Service 258 and route extension of Service 49". SBS Transit (Press Release). 9 November 2015. Retrieved 2016-05-30.
  6. "Chai Chee bus terminal to make way for redevelopment". The Straits Times. 9 September 1985. Retrieved 30 March 2018 via NewspaperSG.
  7. "Interchange in new town opens on Sunday". The Straits Times. 8 March 1988. Retrieved 30 March 2018 via NewspaperSG.
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