A bus depot (or bus garage) is where buses are stored and maintained. They are essential facilities for bus operations, and provide a central location for maintenance, refuelling and bus parking, along with offices and ancillary facilities that support bus operations.
Bus Depots usually come with the following facilities:
- Administrative Offices
- NTWU Canteen
- Staff welfare facilities (e.g. lounges, gym, etc.)
- Bus parking area
- Bus washing machines
- Fuel pumps (Diesel and AdBlue)
- Inspection Lanes
- Workshop (for maintenance and overhaul)
- Bus Operations Control Centre (BOCC) (some depots)
- Bus repainting shop (some depots)
- Electric bus chargers (some depots)
In contrast, bus parks (or out-stations) are compounds that function as bus storage facilities. They provide minimal facilities and usually depend on bus depots on maintenance, refuelling and sometimes washing. However, some bus parks in Singapore function as fully independent bus depots.
Here is a list of bus depots and bus parks in Singapore catering to public transport:
| Bus Depot / Park | Location | Operator(s) | Remarks |
| Ang Mo Kio Bus Depot (AMDEP) | Ang Mo Kio Street 63 | SBS Transit | East District BOCC |
| Ang Mo Kio Bus Depot (AMDEP) | Ang Mo Kio Street 62 | SMRT Buses | Mandai Zone Corporate HQ (SMRT Buses Ltd) BOCC |
| Bedok North Bus Depot (BNDEP) | Bedok North Avenue 4 | SBS Transit | East District |
| Braddell Bus Park (BRBP) | Braddell Road | SBS Transit | East District Corporate HQ (SBS Transit Ltd) |
| Bukit Batok Bus Depot (BBDEP) | Bukit Batok Street 23 | SBS Transit | West District |
| Bulim Bus Depot (BUDEP) | Bulim Drive | Tower Transit (Anchor) | Corporate HQ (Tower Transit Singapore Pte Ltd) BOCC |
| SMRT Buses (Tenant) | Gali Batu Zone | ||
| Hougang Bus Depot (HGDEP) | Defu Avenue 1 | SBS Transit | West District |
| Kranji Bus Depot (KJDEP) | Kranji Road | SMRT Buses | Gali Batu Zone BOCC |
| Loyang Bus Depot (LYDEP) | Loyang Way | Go-Ahead Singapore | Corporate HQ (Go Ahead Singapore Pte Ltd) BOCC |
| Seletar Bus Depot (SEDEP) | Yio Chu Kang Crescent | SBS Transit (Anchor) | East District BOCC |
| SMRT Buses (Tenant) | Mandai Zone | ||
| Soon Lee Bus Park / Depot (SLBP) | Soon Lee Road | SBS Transit | West District BOCC |
| Ulu Pandan Bus Depot (UPDEP) | Business Park Drive | SBS Transit (Anchor) | BOCC |
| SMRT Buses (Tenant) | Gali Batu Zone | ||
| Woodlands Bus Depot (WLDEP) | Woodlands Industrial Park E4 | SMRT Buses | Woodlands Zone BOCC |
| Woodlands Bus Park (WPDEP) | Woodlands Avenue 4 | SMRT Buses | Woodlands Zone / Gali Batu Zone |
Often, bus depots are paired with bus parks for additional handling capacity of buses. Buses permanently stationed at bus parks regularly return to their bus depots for maintenance, refuelling, washing and more, depending on the facilities provided at the bus park. For instance, the former Ayer Rajah Bus Park has its own fuelling pumps and bus wash owing to its far distance away from its parent Bukit Batok Bus Depot, and buses only head back to Bukit Batok for maintenance works. Other paired bus depots/bus parks include Woodlands Depot / Woodlands Bus Park and Bedok North Depot / (Former) Changi Bus Park.
As part of the gradual implementation of the Bus Contracting Model starting from 2016, newer bus depots are owned by the Government and leased out to bus operators who have won their respective bus package contracts.
In addition to parking buses at Bus depot and Bus parks, bus operator may carry out overnight parking at bus interchanges due to the lack of parking space in depots.
Upcoming Bus Depots:
Bus depots in the future are fully owned by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and leased to operators as fully explained under the Bus Contracting Model. To accommodate over a thousand additional buses in the next few years, more bus depots are being constructed across the island.
| Bus Depot / Bus Park | Description |
| East Coast Bus Depot | Located off Upper Changi Road East (near the former Changi Bus Park), this multi-storey bus depot will be located beside the future East Coast Integrated Depot, which will provide for three separate MRT lines (the East West Line, Downtown Line and Thomson-East Coast Line). |
| Gali Batu Bus Depot | Planned multi-storey bus depot next to the Downtown Line’s Gali Batu MRT Depot, likely intended for the future Choa Chu Kang-Bukit Panjang Bus Package. Estimated completion in 2023 |
| Kim Chuan Bus Depot | Planned multi-storey bus depot at Kim Chuan, co-located with Kim Chuan Depot expansion |
| Mandai Bus Depot | Integrated within the Thomson-East Coast Line’s Mandai MRT Depot, this future bus depot will house maintenance facilities and a large enclosed bus park built above the train depot’s stabling yard. Likely intended for the Sembawang–Yishun Bus Package. |
| Sengkang West Bus Depot | Planned multi-storey bus depot with dormitory at Sengkang West, likely intended for the Sengkang–Hougang Bus Package. Estimated completion in 2023 |
| Tengah Bus Depot | Planned bus depot at Tengah, co-located with Jurong Region Line depot |
Defunct
| Bus Depot | Operator | Location | Closed |
| Changi Bus Park | SBS Transit | Upper Changi Road East | 2016 |
| Ayer Rajah Bus Park | SBS Transit | Ayer Rajah Crescent | 2018 |
If I’m not mistaken Ulu Pandan & Seletar is now a standalone depot which doesn’t belong to any district like they used to be with West & East respectively.
Current District depots is like usual where Soon Lee(HQ),Bukit Batok & Hougang(Semi-HQ).Hougang based BCs involved in an accident no need to travel all e way to Soon Lee unless there’s serious cases.
East District will be Ang Mo Kio(HQ),Braddell and Bedok North Depot.
In future there might be a new depot for Bukit Batok,Soon Lee,Ang Mo Kio/Braddell,Bedok & Woodlands.Ulu Pandan will have an option of extending up to 50-60 lots if SLA give the clearance to demolish the heavy vehicle park beside the Zone B bus park.
We are the residents living just opposite the ulu pandan depot. My unit is facing directly the green structures which looks like repair workshops to me. I am concerned about the noise. Why are the workshops not facing the main road instead? Will techinicians be working at night?
There will be noise barrier and yes Technicians do work at night.Buses and trains need to be well maintained to be serviceable.At first I also shocked by LTA decided to built there instead of Toh Tuck or Ayer Rajah