SBS Transit Bus Service 53M

SBS Transit Bus Service 53M is a trunk service plying between Hougang Street 21 and looping at Serangoon Central, passing through Hougang Avenue 1, Lorong Ah Soo, Upper Paya Lebar Road, Serangoon Central and Upper Serangoon Road. It is a route variant of Service 53, introduced under the Bus Service Enhancement Programme (BSEP) on 16 August 2015.

Service 53M was extended to start & terminate at Hougang Street 21 (Kovan Hub) from 26 Oct 2025.

Route Overview
Route	Hougang Street 21 (Kovan Hub) ↺ Serangoon Central (Loop)
Passes Through	Hougang Ave 1, Lorong Ah Soo, Upp Paya Lebar Rd
Route Length	7.1 km
Travelling Time	30 mins
Operator Information
BCM Route Package	Serangoon–Eunos Bus Package
Current Operator	SBS Transit Ltd
Current Depot	Hougang Bus Depot (HGDEP)
Current Fleet	Single-deck buses
Operating Hours
Departure Times from Hougang St 21 (Kovan Hub)	Daily
	05:55 – 23:00
Operating Frequency
Loop Service	6:30am–8.30am			8.31am–4.59pm			5.00pm–7.00pm			After 7.00pm
Mondays – Thursdays	3 – 13 mins			5 – 22 mins			6 – 20 mins			4 – 23 mins
Fridays	7 – 18 mins			4 – 23 mins			8 – 19 mins			6 – 20 mins
Saturdays	6 – 17 mins			6 – 20 mins			5 – 23 mins			3 – 24 mins
Sundays / Public Holidays	3 – 18 mins			3 – 23 mins			3 – 22 mins			3 – 21 mins
Fare Information
Fare	Charges regular distance fares

Service 53M is a supplementary route of Service 53, duplicating a short stretch of its parent service between Hougang Avenue 1 and Serangoon Central. It enhances bus connections for commuters along Service 53’s most crowded short stretches of route and was launched on 16 August 2015.

The route serves residential areas along Hougang Avenue 1 and Lorong Ah Soo with better access to the key transport node of Serangoon Central, where commuters can transfer to other bus services or the rail network. It serves amenities such as the market/food centre along Hougang Avenue 1 and the Aljunied Community Club, as well as schools such as Paya Lebar Methodist Girls’ School and Yuying Secondary School. The route relieves demand off Service 45 and 53, which encounters very heavy loading along the sectors pied by 53M.

Short Trip Services 53A and 53B, which plied the Serangoon Central bound and Hougang Avenue 1 bound sectors during morning and evening peak hours respectively, were withdrawn after the introduction of 53M due to duplicating sectors.

Previously while terminating and starting at Hougang Ave 1, Service 53M buses turnaround at the Hougang St 21 vehicle park next to Blk 206 (the site of the former Hougang South Bus Interchange). However, no boarding and alighting was allowed outside the designated bus stops of this route. Buses officially park at Hougang Central Interchange during their scheduled breaks. The route was extended to Hougang Street 21 (Kovan Hub) from 26 October 2025.

MRT Station Served

• NE12CC13 Serangoon

Route Variant

• Service 53: Bishan Bus Interchange ↺ Changi Airport Ter 2 (Loop)

Gallery

Poster Gallery

Operator History

• 2015 – Present: SBS Transit Ltd

Route History

• 2015 (16 Aug): Introduced between Hougang Ave 1 and Serangoon Ctrl under LTA’s Bus Service Enhancement Programme (BSEP). Designated wheelchair-accessible bus service (WAB) at launch
• 2016 (24 Jan): Serves additional bus stop outside Blk 209 along Boundary Rd
• 2025 (26 Oct): Extended to start & terminate at Hougang St 21 (Kovan Hub)

Past Routings

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