SMRT Bus Service 181M is a route variant of Bus Service 181 that operates on weekday mornings during the school term, connecting Jurong West residents to Corporation Primary School by looping at Jurong West Street 23, temporarily replacing Service 181 during its operating hours (till 29 May 2026).
Operating hours for Service 181M will be extended from 14 Jun 2026 (effective from 29 Jun 2026).
↺ Jurong West St 23 (Loop)
| Route Overview | ||||||||||||
Route  |
Boon Lay Bus Interchange ↺ Jurong West Street 23 (Loop) |
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| Passes Through | Jurong West St 64, Jurong West St 75, Jurong West Ave 3 | |||||||||||
| Route Length | 7.2 km | |||||||||||
| Travelling Time | 42 – 45 mins | |||||||||||
| Operator Information | ||||||||||||
| BCM Route Package | Jurong West Bus Package | |||||||||||
| Current Operator | SMRT Buses Ltd |
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| Current Depot | Soon Lee Bus Depot | |||||||||||
| Current Fleet | Double-deck buses | |||||||||||
| Operating Hours | ||||||||||||
| Departure Times from Boon Lay |
School Term Weekdays (except Public Holidays) |
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| 06:30 – 07:45 [From 14 Jun 2026] 06:30 – 08:00 |
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| Operating Frequency | ||||||||||||
| Weekdays | 5 – 7 mins | |||||||||||
| Fare Information |
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| Fare | Charges regular distance fares |
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Bus Service 181M is a variant of Bus Service 181, serving residents of Jurong West Neighbourhoods 7, 8, and Wenya Estate (Neighbourhood 2) with connections to Boon Lay MRT/Bus Interchange. This modified route extends to Jurong West Street 23, providing additional service to Corporation Primary School.
Operating on school term weekday mornings from 6:30 AM to 7:45 AM, Service 181M temporarily replaces Service 181 during these hours. No Service 181 departures are operated during Service 181M’s operating hours.
Operating Hours Extension
Bus Service 181 will be converted to a bi-directional service and extended to Tengah Bus Interchange from Sunday, 14 June 2026. As a result, from Monday, 29 June 2026 (start of the school term), Service 181M will continue to operate with no change in route, and operate concurrently with Service 181, instead of replacing Service 181 during operating hours.
Operating hours will also be extended, from 06:30–07:45 currently, to 06:30–08:00.
Schools & Community amenities served:
- Jurong Medical Centre / The Frontier Community Club
- Boon Lay Secondary School
- Westwood Primary School
- Gek Poh Shopping Centre
- Gek Poh Ville Community Club
- Jalan Bahar Park
- Corporation Primary School
- St Joseph’s Home
- Supply Chain City
MRT Station Served
- EW27 Boon Lay
Departure Timings
School Term Weekdays, except Public Holidays
- From Boon Lay Int:
06:30, 06:35, 06:40, 06:46, 06:52, 06:59, 07:06, 07:13, 07:20, 07:27, 07:33, 07:39 & 07:45
[From 14 Jun 2026]
06:30 – 08:00
Parent Service:
- Bus Service 181: Boon Lay Int ↺ Jurong West Avenue 3 (Loop)
Daily
Gallery:
Poster Gallery:
Operator History:
- 21 Mar 2016 – 31 Aug 2024: SBS Transit Ltd
- 1 Sep 2024 – Present: SMRT Buses Ltd
Route History:
- 2016 (21 Mar): Introduced between Boon Lay Int and Jurong West St 23 (Loop) as a morning peak hour service on weekdays (except school holidays)
- 2024 (01 Sep): Operations transferred to SMRT Buses under the Jurong West Bus Package
- 2025 (07 Dec): Amended to ply Jurong West St 73 & Jurong West St 72 with the partial closure of Jurong West St 75 to facilitate the construction of Gek Poh MRT station on the Jurong Region Line.
- 2026 (14 Jun): Last bus timing on School Term Weekdays extended from 07:45 to 08:00
Back to Bus Services
Back to Buses
Continued on Page 2 – Gallery
- Gallery (SBS Transit)
Them retaining 181M and letting 181M concurrently with 181, could mean that they intend to keep the 181M looping route at Jurong West Avenue 3 > Street 22 > Street 23 > Street 24 > Avenue 3.
Simply because that area is presently mostly empty land, and that area indeed need a new bus route to serve, so that can open up that area for development.
The present temporary route amendment of 258 due to Jurong Region Line construction is until July.
I have a feeling they may announce 258 route amendment to cover Avenue 3 and Street 22/23/24 soon. Reason is because the present temporary route amendment of 258 is useful as it provides same bus stop transfer to 181 when traveling between Tengah and Jurong Industrial Area.
So, it may not turn out to be 181M run concurrently. Rather, it may turn out to be 258 from end-June when school reopens.
Basically, if that’s the case, 181 announcement is half baked. They may be delaying the potential 258 announcement to end May, since the planned implementation of the potential 258 amendment could be from end June when school reopens – and the standard protocol could be 5 weeks prior then inform.
If it’s because notice is only given 5 weeks prior to implementation, then we would have to wait until 22 May to see if that is the case.
Corporate primary school pupils already have Service 185 available to them, even before 181M was introduced.
Moreover, 181M operates only during the weekday morning peak hours. Given this limited operating window, it would make sense to discontinue 181M once Service 181 is extended to Tengah via the Bulim Industrial Area.
Or you could just reduce operational hours of 181M to match 983M (running every 10mins between 6:30 – 7am) and terminate it outside Corporation Pri Sch. This also can enable some interlining between 181M & 240M in the process