Happy New Year! Land Transport Guru takes a look at the public transport milestones to come for 2017. There will be new train stations, bus interchanges, bus services to come!
New Train Stations
The Tuas West Extension on the East West Line is expected to commence service in the 2nd quarter of 2017. Comprising four stations, the extension will provide better accessibility to the Tuas West and Tuas Checkpoint.
- EW30 Gul Circle
- EW31 Tuas Crescent
- EW32 Tuas West Road
- EW33 Tuas Link
SMRT’s latest rolling stock, Kawasaki Heavy Industries & CSR Sifang C151B, is also expected to begin service with the opening of the Tuas West Extension.
Samudera LRT Station on the Punggol West LRT will also be opened in March 2017. This was announced at the official opening of Punggol Point LRT Station on 29 December 2016. Teck Lee, the last LRT station not in operation, will open in tandem with developments in the area.
Construction of Downtown Line Stage 3, running from Fort Canning to Expo, is expected to complete this year.
|
|
New Bus Interchanges
Bukit Panjang Integrated Transport Hub will open in the first quarter of 2017. Originally slated for completion in 2015, it was met with delays in construction. As part of the Hillion Mall, the ITH will provide convenient connections between bus services, Downtown Line and Bukit Panjang LRT.
Compassvale Bus Interchange is expected to be opened in the first quarter of 2017. Built as an extension of the existing Sengkang Bus Interchange, the new interchange will provide 12 additional bus parking lots and 2 boarding berths. Similar to Tampines Concourse Bus Interchange, relocation of existing bus services as well as new bus services are expected.
The relocated Shenton Way Terminal is expected to be opened this year as well. The current terminal sits on a site slated for development of Circle Line Stage 6.
Expansion of Hougang Central Bus Interchange and Upper East Coast Terminal are expected to be completed by this year. The expansion will provide additional parking lots, easing interchange congestion during peak periods.
New Bus Services
At least 5 new bus services are expected to be launched this year under the Bus Service Enhancement Programme (BSEP). This includes Go-Ahead Bus Service 68 (Pasir Ris – Tampines) and 2 new bus services under the Seletar Bus Package.
Bukit Merah Bus Package* will be put up for tender in the middle of 2017 under the Bus Contracting Model. SBS Transit, which currently operates all 18 bus services in the package, will be running the bus services until 01 Sep 2018.
Results for the Seletar Bus Package is also expected to be announced in the first half of 2017. The tender was closed on 27 October 2016 with 9 bids. The Land Transport Authority is currently reviewing the bids.
Selected bus services plying parallel to Downtown Line Stage 2 are also expected to be truncated or withdrawn.
*The Bukit Merah Bus Package comprises Bus Services: 5, 16, 57, 93, 120, 121, 122, 123/M, 131/M, 145, 160, 170/X, 195, 198, 272, 273, 400 and 402.
New Bus Models
137 more buses with USB Charging Ports will be on the roads soon, comprising 122 MAN A95 and 15 Alexander Dennis Enviro500 MMC Buses. The MAN A95 chassis have been delivered to Malaysian bodybuilder Gemilang Coachworks, and will complete assembly and delivery this year. The ADL Enviro500 buses are being assembled and delivered from the Zhuhai Assembly Facility with similar specifications to SMRT’s earlier order.
Retiring Bus Models
The BYD K9 Electric Bus trial will end in the second quarter of 2017. It started its six-month trial on 07 November 2016 on Go-Ahead Bus Service 17.
The bus is expected to start trials on another Go-Ahead bus service, originating from Punggol Bus Interchange, in the first quarter of 2017.
The last of SBS Transit’s flagship Volvo B10M and Volvo Olympian buses will be fully retired on Christmas. Purchased in the 1990s, then-Singapore Bus Services brought in 977 Volvo B10M and 571 Volvo Olympian buses in total, and were a common sight on Singapore’s roads for the past two decades. These buses have been succeeded by newer Wheelchair-Accessible Buses, namely the Scania K230UB, Mercedes-Benz Citaro and Volvo B9TL.
SMRT Buses’ Mercedes-Benz O405G MK2 “Smiley” Bendy Buses will be full retired on 7 March. The Volgren-bodied Mercedes-Benz O405, all of which are being used as training buses, will also be fully retired on 27 February.
Do remember to check out our 2016 Year in Review article as well if you have not!
If TT and GA continued to perform above average im not suprised LTA awarded both Bt Merah and Sembawang-Yishun to them
Then we’ll see how they manage service 160 and 170. During peak periods, there will be heavy traffic along the Causeway. The question is not why, but how.
And I wonder how LTA will moderate the bus services that run parallel to the Downtown Line since there’s demand for 170 from Queen Street and 66 is already given to Tower Transit.
I am hoping LTA will distribute the 122 new A95 to all operators.
SMRT:30 units
SBST:50 units
GA:16 units
TT:16 units
Seletar winner:10 units plus 15 E500
Further purchase another 100 units of A95 and 15 more E500 to
SMRT:20 plus 15 more E500
SBST:50
GA:10
TT:10
Seletar:10
SG A24:Another 30 for SMRT