Tower Transit Express Bus Service 97e is an express route between Jurong East and Marina Centre, passing through AYE, Alexandra, HarbourFront, Shenton Way, Bayfront and Suntec City. This bus service calls at limited stops along the parent route – Service 97.
Express 97e will be extended to Tengah Int from 8 Mar 2026.
Note:
- No Boarding & Alighting at Marina Centre Terminal.
The last alighting stop is at: Promenade Stn/Pan Pacific, Raffles Blvd
The first boarding stop is at Aft S’pore Flyer, Raffles Ave.
| Route Overview | ||||||||||||
| Route |
[AM]: Jurong East Bus Interchange → Marina Centre Bus Terminal [PM]: Marina Centre Bus Terminal → Jurong East Bus Interchange [From 8 Mar 2026] [AM]: Tengah Bus Interchange → Marina Centre Bus Terminal [PM]: Marina Centre Bus Terminal → Tengah Bus Interchange |
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| Passes Through | AYE, Alexandra Rd, Telok Blangah Rd, Keppel Rd, Marina Blvd, Central Blvd, Bayfront Ave, Temasek Blvd | |||||||||||
| Route Length | Towards Marina Centre: 20.9 km | Towards Jurong East: 22.3 km | ||||||||||
| Travelling Time | 67 – 74 mins | |||||||||||
| Operator Information | ||||||||||||
| BCM Route Package | Bulim Bus Package | |||||||||||
| Current Operator | Tower Transit Singapore Pte Ltd (Tower Transit Singapore) |
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| Current Depot | Bulim Bus Depot | |||||||||||
| Current Fleet | Single-deck & Double-deck buses | |||||||||||
| Operating Hours | ||||||||||||
| Departure Times from Jurong East [From 8 Mar 2026 – Tengah] |
Weekdays, except Public Holidays | |||||||||||
| 07:36 – 08:24 [From 8 Mar 2026] 07:05 – 08:05 |
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| Departure Times from Raffles Ave (Aft S’pore Flyer) |
Weekdays, except Public Holidays | |||||||||||
| 18:08 – 18:56 [From 8 Mar 2026] 18:05 – 19:05 |
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| Operating Frequency | ||||||||||||
| From Jurong East [From 8 Mar 2026 – Tengah] |
16 mins [From 8 Mar 2026] 12 mins |
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| From Raffles Ave |
24 mins [From 8 Mar 2026] 15 mins |
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| Fare Information |
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| Fare | Charges express distance fares |
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Bus Service 97e is a Limited-stop Express Bus Service which offers quicker journeys for commuters living at Jurong East and Clementi, linking them with industries at Alexandra, HarbourFront and the City areas of Shenton Way, Bayfront and Marina Centre. Operating during the peak hours, it plies the exact same route as its parent Bus Service 97, but only calls at selected bus stops along its route.
The service was first introduced by SBS Transit in January 2005, then branded Fast-Forward and the first Fast-Forward service to be introduced, touting shorter journey times for peak hour commuters and the use of the lowercase e as the service suffix. For a three-month period starting in February 2005, passengers on each trip were offered a complimentary copy of The Business Times every morning.
Owing to the success of 97e, SBS Transit subsequently introduced 8 more Fast-Forward services to benefit other trunk routes.
In June 2016, operations for Fast Forward 97e was transferred to Tower Transit under the Bus Contracting Model, and the service was rebranded to an Express Service.
In May 2021, the number of trips was reduced as part of Bulim Bus Package (2nd Term) changes. Previously, 5 trips were operated in each direction during the morning & evening peak hours; this was reduced to 4 & 3 trips respectively during the morning & evening peak hours. 2 additional trips were added both during morning & evening peak hours with the extension of the service to Tengah in March 2026 under the Land Transport Authority’s Bus Connectivity Enhancement Programme (BCEP).
If the eves of Christmas, New Year’s Day, and Chinese New Year fall on a weekday, the Evening Peak departures will be brought forward to the afternoon. Revised departure times will be provided by the operator closer to the affected date.
MRT Stations Served
- EW24NS1 Jurong East
- CC28 Telok Blangah
- NE1CC29 HarbourFront
- EW15 Tanjong Pagar
- TE19 Shenton Way
- DT17 Downtown
- NS27CE2TE20 Marina Bay
- CE1DT16 Bayfront
- CC3 Esplanade
- CC4DT15 Promenade
Departure Timings
Weekdays (except Public Holidays)
- Morning Peak from Jurong East Int:
07:36, 07:52, 08:08 & 08:24 - Evening Peak from Raffles Ave (Aft S’pore Flyer):
18:08, 18:32 & 18:56
[From 8 Mar 2026]
- Morning Peak from Tengah Int:
07:05, 07:17, 07:29, 07:41, 07:53 & 08:25 - Evening Peak from Raffles Ave (Aft S’pore Flyer):
18:05, 18:20, 18:35, 18:50 & 19:05
Route Variant:
- Service 97: Jurong East Int ↔ Marina Centre Ter
Daily
[From 8 Mar 2026]
- Service 97: Tengah Int ↔ Marina Centre Ter
Daily
Gallery
Gallery (F1 Diversion)
Poster Gallery
Operator History
- 03 Jan 2005 – 10 Jun 2016: SBS Transit Ltd
- 13 Jun 2016 – Present: Tower Transit Singapore Pte Ltd
Route History
- 2005 (03 Jan): Introduced between Jurong East Int and Fullerton Rd (Fullerton Sq) during morning peak hours and between Collyer Quay (Clifford Pier) and Jurong East Int during evening peak hours as a peak hour one-directional Fast Forward service on weekdays
- 2005 (12 Jun): Serves new bus stop outside Science Park along AYE
- 2006 (29 Oct): Serves new bus stop outside VivoCity and additional bus stop opposite VivoCity along Telok Blangah Rd
- 2009 (23 Feb): Extended to terminate at Raffles Ave (The Esplanade) for morning peak trips and start from Temasek Blvd (Suntec Convention Ctr) for evening peak trips;
Serves additional pair of bus stops outside Blk 44 and opposite Blk 45 along Telok Blangah Rd - 2010 (26 Apr): Amended to Marina Ctr Ter
- 2011 (17 Dec): Amended to Jurong East Temp Int
- 2013 (01 Dec): Serves new bus stop outside Downtown Stn along Central Blvd
- 2015 (28 Sep): Designated wheelchair-accessible bus service (WAB)
- 2016 (13 Jun): Operations transferred to Tower Transit Singapore Pte Ltd from SBS Transit Ltd
- 2020 (08 Apr – 01 Jun): Temporarily suspended due to Singapore COVID-19 Circuit Breaker Measures
- 2020 (06 Dec): Amended to relocated Jurong East Int, skipping Jurong East Ctrl
- 2021 (27 Feb): Amended to the relocated Marina Ctr Ter
- 2021 (31 May): Serves additional bus stops opposite Jurong Town Hall, outside and opposite German Ctr along Jurong Town Hall Rd; Reduction of 1 AM Peak Trip & 2 PM Peak Trips
- 2026 (8 Mar): Extended to Tengah Int with 2 additional morning & evening trips under the LTA’s Bus Connectivity Enhancement Programme (BCEP).
Changes in Departure Timings
| Effective Date | Morning Peak Timings | Evening Peak Timings |
| From Jurong East Int | From Marina Ctr Ter | |
| – | 07:36, 07:48, 08:00, 08:12 & 08:24 | 18:06, 18:18, 18:30, 18:42 & 18:54 |
| From Jurong East Int | From Raffles Ave (Aft S’pore Flyer) | |
| 31 May 2021 | 07:36, 07:52, 08:08 & 08:24 | 18:08, 18:32 & 18:56 |
| From Tengah Int | From Raffles Ave (Aft S’pore Flyer) | |
| 8 Mar 2026 | 07:05, 07:17, 07:29, 07:41, 07:53 & 08:25 | 18:05, 18:20, 18:35, 18:50 & 19:05 |
Back to Fast Forward Services
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![Express 97e - Tower Transit MAN A22 (SMB3021E) [Hari Raya]](https://landtransportguru.net/web/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/3021-97e-HariRaya-300x200.jpg)
![Express 97e - Tower Transit MAN A22 (SMB3021E) [Kindness Day]](https://landtransportguru.net/web/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/3021-97e-Kindness-300x200.jpg)
















It will be much better if 97e skips the Alexandra area and go straight away onto AYE after Cantonment like 502. The harbourfront area can be served by the normal 97.
I suggest this because I always see that both the normal and express variant always start and arrive at the same time as each other but with a huge different price.
I’m pretty sure some of us would love to go back home from work with an alternative bus route from the crowded 502. We don’t mind stopping at stops on AYE but once again, skipping the harbourfront area would be nice and worth the “express” price.