1979 Telok Blangah Bus Plan

Introduction:

The Telok Blangah Bus Plan between 1979 and 1981 was a major change to bus routes serving the Bukit Merah New Town from a point-to-point network of bus services to a hub-and-spoke network operating out of Bukit Merah Town Centre. Instead of plying lengthy routes within the estate, Trunk routes were rerouted, with their deleted sectors replaced by a new series of Feeder bus services.

Initiated in 3 stages, starting on 23rd December 1979, the bus plan coincided with the subsequent opening of the the Bukit Merah Bus Interchange during Stage 2 of the plan on 28th September 1980, located along Bukit Merah Central. The last stage of the bus plan was eventually implemented on 15th February 1981.

Stage 1 (23 December 1979):

In the early 1970s, there were numerous roadside termini located along Henderson Road, Lengkok Bahru, Alexandra Road and Lower Delta Road, catering to various major trunk services from other parts of Singapore. Subsequently, more roadside bus terminals were built within the housing estate of Telok Blangah, catering to new trunk services that specifically connected these neighbourhoods to other areas.

From 23rd December 1979, 4 trunk services from the roadside bus terminals along Henderson Road (Bus Services 14 & 153) and Lengkok Bahru (Bus Services 50 & 139) were relocated to a centralised interim bus terminal along Bukit Merah Central. At the same time, Feeder Bus Service 274 was also launched, connecting the developing residential blocks along Depot Road with the new bus terminus. Prior to the official opening of the bus terminal along Bukit Merah Central, Bus Service 185 had already been extended to the terminus a month prior, linking the neighbouring Clementi New Town, Dover Road and Ayer Rajah Road to the developing Bukit Merah Town Centre.

The bus interchange along Bukit Merah Central was still under construction at the time, which would provide more parking bays and a passenger concourse for boarding and alighting activities when completed under Stage 2 of the Telok Blangah Bus Plan.

Stage 2 (28 September 1980):

On 28th September 1980, Bukit Merah Bus Interchange was finally opened for passenger service, absorbing all 6 bus services from the interim roadside bus terminal along Bukit Merah Central. On the same day, 2 new Feeder Bus Services 272 & 273 were launched, linking the new interchange with the developing neighbourhoods along Telok Blangah Way and Telok Blangah Heights.

The opening of the new bus interchange also saw the route extension for SBS Bus Service 184, as well as CSS Bus Service 6, to the new interchange (from Telok Blangah Way). However, Bus Service 125, which also operated from Telok Blangah Way, was temporarily amended to the roadside terminus along Lower Delta Road instead, likely due to a lack of space in the new interchange.

Stage 3 (15 February 1981):

From 15th February 1981, the final stage of the Telok Blangah Bus Plan was implemented. The bus terminal along Telok Blangah Heights was closed, leading to the route cutback for Bus Service 16 to Bukit Merah Bus Interchange. In addition, Bus Service 63 from Labrador and Bus Service 125 from Lower Delta Road were also amended to operate from the interchange instead. CSS Bus Services 5, 8 & 9 were re-routed from the roadside terminus along Telok Blangah Way to the interchange.

A new semi-express Bus Service 187 was launched as part of Stage 3 of the bus plan, supplementing existing Bus Service 196 between Bukit Merah and the City areas of Robinson Road and Empress Place. However, due to low passenger usage on weekends and public holidays, it was eventually revised to operate on weekdays only after 3 months of service.

A new ring service, Feeder Bus Service 270, operated during the peak hours daily, providing intra-town connections between various neighbourhoods in Telok Blangah estate. However, the ring service did not operate from the Bukit Merah Bus Interchange, but instead started/ended operations along Depot Close. It was eventually discontinued 7 months later due to persistently low ridership.

However, despite the full implementation of the Telok Blangah Bus Plan, many bus services continued to operate from existing roadside bus terminals along Redhill Close, Jalan Rumah Tinggi, Lower Delta Road and Alexandra Road until the late 1980s, when they were replaced by the World Trade Centre Bus Terminal.

Summary of Post-Amendment Bus Routes in Bukit Merah (as of 15 Feb 1981):

• 2: Commonwealth Avenue – Jalan Bukit Merah – Chinatown/Bugis – Bedok – Changi Point
• 14: Bukit Merah – Orchard Road – East Coast Road – Somapah
• 16: Bukit Merah – Orchard Road – Old Airport Road – Marine Parade
• 22: Tanjong Berlayer – Alexandra Road – Chinatown/Bugis – Chai Chee
• 41: Redhill Close – Chinatown/Bugis – Marine Parade – Chai Chee
• 44: Redhill Close – Chinatown/Bugis – Old Airport Road – Chai Chee
• 50: Bukit Merah – Robinson Road – Sims Avenue – Kaki Bukit Malay Settlement
• 62: Jalan Rumah Tinggi – Chinatown/Bugis – MacPherson
• 63: Bukit Merah – Chinatown/Bugis – MacPherson
• 65: Lower Delta Road – Orchard Road – Serangoon Road – MacPherson
• 90: Commonwealth Avenue – Jalan Bukit Merah – Chinatown/Bugis – Paya Lebar Airport
• 92: Alexandra Road – Orchard Road – Serangoon Road – Paya Lebar Airport
• 124: St. Michael’s – Stevens Road – Orchard Road – Chinatown – Telok Blangah Rise (Loop)
• 125: Bukit Merah – Cecil Street – Bukit Timah Road – St. Michael’s
• 139: Bukit Merah – Serangoon Road – Balestier Road – Toa Payoh
• 147: Commonwealth Avenue – Jalan Bukit Merah – Chinatown/Bugis – Toa Payoh
• 153: Bukit Merah – Farrer Road – Thomson Road – Toa Payoh
• 181: Upper Bukit Timah Road – Jalan Bukit Merah – Chinatown – Crawford Street
• 184: Bukit Merah – Pasir Panjang Road – Jurong
• 185: Clementi – Dover Road – Ayer Rajah Road – Bukit Merah (Loop)
• 187: Bukit Merah – Empress Place (Loop)
• 189: Commonwealth Avenue – Jalan Bukit Merah – Empress Place (Loop)
• 195: Crawford Street – River Valley Road – Lower Delta Road (Loop)
• 196: Jurong – Commonwealth Avenue – Jalan Bukit Merah – Prince Edward Road
• 197: Jurong – Jalan Bukit Merah – Chinatown/Bugis – Geylang
• 270: Depot Close – Telok Blangah Heights/Telok Blangah Way (Loop)
• 272: Bukit Merah – Telok Blangah Rise/Crescent (Loop)
• 273: Bukit Merah – Telok Blangah Heights (Loop)
• 274: Bukit Merah – Depot Road (Loop)
• CSS 5: Bukit Merah – Robinson Road – Orchard Road – Sin Ming Road
• CSS 6: Bukit Merah – Chinatown – Serangoon Road – Circuit Road
• CSS 8: Bukit Merah – Cecil Street – Marine Parade – Bedok
• CSS 9: Bukit Merah – Robinson Road – Bugis – Geylang

More detailed information for operational bus services can be found in the Historical Routes of Bus Services article.