On 16 July 2026, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced the awarding of the Serangoon–Eunos Bus Package to SMRT Buses.
The 5-year contract represents the first tendered package term for the Serangoon-Eunos Bus Package. It will commence on 13 June 2027, with an option for extension of 2 to 5 years.
With this, SMRT Buses will succeed SBS Transit as the operator of 26 bus services in the Serangoon & Eunos region. It will also operate buses from the new Kim Chuan Bus Depot.
In addition, it will also manage Serangoon Bus Interchange, Eunos Bus Interchange, Woodleigh Bus Interchange, and Sims Place Bus Terminal.
Contract BC802: Serangoon–Eunos Bus Package
Serangoon–Eunos Bus Package has been operated by SBS Transit under a negotiated contract since the start of the Bus Contracting Model in September 2016.
SMRT Buses will succeed SBS Transit as the new operator of this package. Buses will also be based at the new Kim Chuan Bus Depot, instead of the existing Hougang Bus Depot.
| Incumbent | SBS Transit Ltd |
| Present Contract Term |
Negotiated Contract (Contract PT209): Sep 2016 – Jun 2027 (10 years 9 months term) |
| Upcoming Contract Term |
Tendered Package 1st Term (Contract BC802): June 2027 – 2032 |
| Awarded Operator |
SMRT Buses Ltd |
| Bus Services |
11, 22, 53/53M, 55, 58, 59, 60, 63/63M, 64, 90, 94, 101, 103, 105, 109, 134, 137, 140, 141, 146, 148, 150, 154, 158, 315 & 317 (26 bus routes) |
| Handover Date | From 13 June 2027 |
| Bus Depot | Kim Chuan Bus Depot |
| Bus Interchanges | Serangoon Bus Interchange, Eunos Bus Interchange, Woodleigh Bus Interchange |
| Bus Terminals | Sims Place Bus Terminal |
Reasons for the award to SMRT Buses were provided by LTA:
- Highest total score for its proposal
- Offered cost savings for LTA compared to the current contract
- Proposal demonstrated strong capabilities in electric bus operations and maintenance, alongside comprehensive plans to strengthen workforce development. Initiatives include:
— Implement attractive workforce recruitment initiatives to grow and diversify its local pool of bus captains, including offering a high sign-on bonus, Class 3/3A licence sponsorship, and C-U-Back at work (“CUB”) programme developed in partnership with NTUC Women and Family Division to attract more women to enter the bus sector.
— Enhance bus safety and systems maintenance through the deployment of fleet-wide AI-enabled fatigue detection and fault navigator systems to reduce fault resolution time and improve maintenance turnaround.
— Enhance commuter experience through community-focused programmes tailored to the local profile at each interchange. These include a placemaking initiative featuring the heritage of Kampung Eunos, and extending the community piano and busking sessions initiatives at Woodleigh to support local arts and community engagement.
Transition of impacted workers
Current SBS Transit employees from the Serangoon-Eunos Bus Package will be protected by the Public Transport Tripartite Committee’s Guidelines on Good Employment Practices in the Public Bus Industry and must be offered a job by SMRT Buses, the incoming operator, at employment terms that are no worse off than their current employment terms.
Affected employees can also choose to join SMRT Buses or be redeployed by their current employer (SBS Transit), where feasible.
Bid Prices
The tender for the Serangoon-Eunos Bus Package was called on 19 December 2025. The awarded tenderer and its corresponding contract sum are highlighted in red.
| No. | Company | Base | Alternative |
| 1 | SBS Transit Ltd | $635,243,284.11 | $630,345,868.51 |
| 2 | SMRT Buses Ltd | $599,528,428.00 | — |
| 3 | Tower Transit Singapore Pte. Ltd. | $644,630,098.50 | $639,290,213.50 |
The tender submissions were evaluated based on a two-envelope process, which looked at both quality and price factors. The price submissions were only opened after the quality evaluation was completed. This two-envelope process ensures that LTA gets the best value-for-money proposal without compromising on quality.
LTA also retains the option to extend the contract by between two and five years, beyond the end of the initial five-year term.
Observations
The tendered package term for the Serangoon-Eunos Bus Package will commence operations on 13 June 2027, which is 2 weeks ahead of the 27 June 2027 date initially expected, as was released by SBS Transit in a Q1 2026 business update.
For this contract, the anchor interchanges / terminals that the winning operator would manage also notably excludes Changi Village Bus Terminal. The terminal is currently managed by SBS Transit under the negotiated contract of the Serangoon-Eunos Bus Package. Of the three bus services that currently terminate at Changi Village, two of these are from the Serangoon-Eunos Bus Package (59 & 109), with the other being from the Loyang Bus Package.
References
- LTA Awards Serangoon-Eunos Bus Package to SMRT Buses | Land Transport Authority [Accessed 16 Jul 2026]
Back to Serangoon–Eunos Bus Package
SMRT winning Serangoon-Eunos package is a watershed moment in Sg bus history as it will be the first time that SBS will lose its majority status as non-SBS operated bus services will outnumber SBS operated services (unless SBS wins another package operated by another operator.)
With Bedok and Clementi package supposedly going to be put up for tender next year or within the next few years, I won’t be surprised if SBS’s share declines even further as I can see the potential of TTS winning Clementi and GAS winning Bedok, redcuing SBS’s share to just 4 packages concentrated in the central and northeast.
Not sure if it has anything to do with operator allocation for MRT lines, but maybe LTA sees SBS as a better rail operator than a bus one (and vice versa for SMRT) probably due to NEL and DTL’s better track record compared to SMRT run lines and wants SBS to concentrate on rail operations. Perhaps CRL and even Seletar-Tengah line (assuming both lines will be merged) will be given to SBS/SOR, making SBS the majority player in rail, effectively flipping the tables. Just my 2cents.
The incorporation dates:
SBS Transit: 1 November 2001
Tower Transit: 3 July 2014
SMRT Buses: 10 May 2004
Go Ahead: 30 November 2015
From the star chart, can tell that SBS Transit is actually very weak, Tower Transit can expand, SMRT Buses is here to stay and would bring innovation, Go Ahead also poised for expansion and would bring changes.
This may be one of the reasons why investors are questioning SBS Transit’s competitiveness and board oversight. SBS Transit share of bus services falling below 50% could trigger a review and even a rebranding of the company (to get a better incorporation date).
Agreed, I would think that SBST will lose one more package in the coming years and Clementi probably will go to GAS instead. Bedok would stay with SBST as the East representative. TTS on the other hand might just get one new EV depot. SBST will stay at 5 package and of course this will mean the CRL is definitely for them.
As long as they don’t lose Sengkang Hougang and Bukit Merah can already, if not ah SBST 0 eBus and 160 170 have to re register for SPAD
So I did some research regarding the OC500LEs on SGWiki (not SgWiki) and apparently they’re going to retire the rest of the batch starting October next year, which means they might still have a chance to run in this package for at least a few months (a year for batch 2 ones since they retire by Sep 2028)
Please let SMRT run CCK–BKP. Their service is top-notch, especially their “short working” trip service, which starts from CCK Ave 3 during the morning peak hours to help clear crowds along Ave 4. It has been in operation for many years and has benefited residents living along Ave 4.
This one standard procedure depends on LTA approval. Nowadays every decision is LTA not operator. Tower also doing great job coping with 856 and 969.GAS also doing fine with 118 and SBST doing excellent job…
Service 55 is not included in the package as per LTA website.
it could be a mistake as they forgot, or it could also mean that 55 is being given to another bus package (maybe bishan-toa payoh). if that was the case they should have given out 90 instead of 55
Nah its already included
Congratulations to SMRT for winning the Serangoon-Eunos bus package!!! Comparing to GAS highest pricing winner for the TBP, they won with the lowest. It seems that there’s a great contrast between them, as both are concentrating in EV buses operations as required by LTA. The new Kim Chuan depot will serve as the base for this package, with all bus services originating from this depot. Can Western terminating services 105 & 154 be allowed to garage at SLDEP, returning to the old SBS days??? Their award is on lBase price, without alternative options. With this win, SMRT will become the largest public bus operator in SG, whereas SBS has been downgraded to a minority player. Hopefully, won’t see the demise of this longest established operator during the end of this decade.
Hi bro. 55 is included? I am very confused.
Bus service 55 is included in this Eunos-Serangon bus package as LTA has indicated. Do you go to the wrong LTA website? The website for LTA is http://www.lta.gov.sg.
Congratulations SMRT!
SBST should focus on Jurong Line Implementation, while buses operations for CCK – Bukit Panjang and Woodlands come under either SMRT, Tower Transit.
SMRT has been implementing good governance and bus routes with LTA at CCK and Bukit Panjang over 20 years. Hope they keep both CCK – Bukit Panjang and Woodlands. While train operations for Cross Island line under SBST.