SMRT Bus Service 178 is a trunk route between Woodlands Temporary Interchange and Boon lay Interchange, passing through Marsiling, Woodlands Centre, Woodlands Road, Upper Bukit Timah, Bukit Batok, Jurong Town Hall, AYE and Corporation Road.
Technical Information | ||
Route ![]() |
Woodlands Temporary Bus Interchange ↔ Boon Lay Bus Interchange  | |
Passes Through | Marsiling, Woodlands Ctr, Woodlands Rd, Upp Bukit Timah, Bukit Batok Ctrl, Jurong Town Hall, AYE, Corporation Rd | |
Route Length | 29.8 km (D1) | 30.3 km (D2) | |
Travelling Time | 90Â mins | |
Operator Information | ||
BCM Route Package | Woodlands Bus Package | |
Current Operator | SMRT Buses Ltd | |
Current Depot | Woodlands Bus Depot | |
Current Fleet | 12-metre Double Deck Bus: – MAN A95 – Volvo B9TL 12-metre Single Deck Bus: – MAN A22 |
|
Departure Times from Woodlands |
0530 – 2330 (Daily) | |
Departure Times from Boon Lay |
0545 – 2330 (Weekdays & Saturdays) 0600 – 2330 (Sundays / Public Holidays) |
|
Frequency | Direction 1 |
Direction 2 |
0630 – 0830: 06 – 14 mins 0831 – 1659: 07 – 15 mins 1700 – 1900: 14 – 16 mins After 1900: 14 – 17 mins |
0630 – 0830: 14 – 15 mins 0831 – 1659: 12 – 15 mins 1700 – 1900: 14 – 15 mins After 1900: 15 – 17 mins |
Service 178 is a supplementary inter-town route serving between the housing estates of Woodlands, Bukit Panjang, Bukit Batok, Jurong East and Boon Lay. Much of its route plies through industrial areas (such as those around Woodlands Road, Corporation Road and International Business Park), hence demand is strongly skewed towards peak hours. It shares the Woodlands – Boon Lay termini with Service 187, while plying a longer route.
This route experiences very low off-peak demand and operates at borderline QoS standards. Its low frequency is attributed to the presence of multiple duplicating routes and little demand from industrial estate portions. It is believed that this route is highly unprofitable and SMRT’s requests to convert it to a peak-hour route prior to the Bus Contracting Model in 2016 was turned down by the Public Transport Council. Despite this, it encounters considerable demand between Woodlands Int and Kranji MRT during weekday morning peak hours due to industries at Marsiling Industrial Estate and Woodlands Road, and Short Trip 178A was introduced to cope with the additional demand.
Formerly a Singapore Bus Service (SBS) route since the 1970s, the route was transferred to Trans-Island Bus Service (TIBS) in 1983 and has been operated by SMRT ever since.
Double decker buses are deployed on this service on a regular basis since 25 February 2019.
MRT / LRT Stations Served
- NS9TE2 Woodlands
- NS7Â Kranji
- BP6DT1 Bukit Panjang
- DT2Â Cashew
- DT3Â Hillview
- NS2Â Bukit Batok
- EW25 Chinese Garden
- EW27Â Boon Lay
Special Departures
- Woodlands Ctr Rd (Woodlands Train Checkpt) → Woodlands Temp Int
Sundays & PHs: 0535hrs, 0552hrs, 0609hrs, 0626hrs, 0643hrs
Short Trip Service
- Service 178A: Woodlands Temp Int → Woodlands Road (Kranji Stn)
Weekdays (except Public Holidays): 05:36, 06:13, 06:26, 07:08, 07:52 & 08:36
Fare: Charges basic distance fares. See Bus Fares.
Gallery:
Operator History:
- 1974 – 1983: Singapore Bus Services Ltd
- 1983 – 2004: Trans-Island Bus Services Ltd
- 2004 – Present: SMRT Buses Ltd
The Bus Service Operating License (BSOL) for this route will be renewed in 2023 under the Woodlands Bus Package.
History:
- 1974 (03 Feb):Â Introduced between Corporation Drive and Upper Bukit Timah Road
- 1975 (21 Jul): Amended to Boon Lay Gardens
- 1978 (01 Jun): Extended to Jurong Int
- 1981 (29 Nov): Extended to Woodlands Int
- 1983 (10 Jul): Handed to Trans-Island Bus Services (TIBS)
- 1990 (01 Jul): Shortened to Boon Lay Int with closure of Jurong Int, and amended to serve Bukit Batok
- 1996 (04 Feb): Extended to Woodlands Regional Int, covering parts Feeder service 372 (now service 903).
- 2006 (19 Jun): Amended to Boon Lay Temp Int
- 2009 (27 Dec):Â Amended to Boon Lay Integrated Transport Hub (ITH)
- 2013: Service improvement under the Bus Service Enhancement Programme (BSEP)
- 2013 (15 Jul): Shortworking trip 178A introduced
- 2013 (29 Sep):Â Designated wheelchair-accessible bus route (WAB)
- 2016 (12 Mar): Amended to Woodlands Temp Int
- 2016 (11 Dec): Serves the new Bus Stop 43991 – Opp Blk 635A, Woodlands Road
- 2017 (23 Apr): Calls at relocated bus stop 43453 Aft PIE along Bukit Batok Rd
- 2017 (28 May): Calls at relocated bus stop 47071 Bef Mandai Rd and no longer calls at bus stop 45081 Opp Mandai Rd along Woodlands Rd.
- 2018 (25 Mar): Amended to Woodlands Ave 3 and Woodlands Centre Road towards Woodlands
- 2018 (10 Jun): Calls at a new bus stop along Woodlands Road (44999 Bef Yew Tee Flyover)
- 2019 (25 Feb): Start of regular double-decker bus deployments
Past Routings:
- Refer to this article
- 2018: Amended to present routing. No significant route changes since 2018.
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they can follow SBST dual depot control system that is majority Woodlands and minority Kranji/Bulim until Mandai Depot is ready.
Bus 178 SMRT should have MAN A95 as most people are taking the following bus.
178 already has double deckers.