Tower Transit Bus Service 853 is a trunk route linking Yishun Bus Interchange and Lorong 1 Geylang Terminal, passing through Lentor, Ang Mo Kio, Serangoon and Geylang Bahru.
During Sundays / Public Holidays, Service 853M will ply an extended route terminating at Upper East Coast Terminal instead, via Geylang, Tanjong Katong and Marine Parade.
853
| Route Overview | ||||||||||||
Route  |
Yishun Bus Interchange ↔ Lorong 1 Geylang Bus Terminal | |||||||||||
| Passes Through | Yishun Ave 2, Lentor Ave, Ang Mo Kio Ave 6, Upp Serangoon Rd, Kallang Bahru | |||||||||||
| Route Length | Towards Lor 1 Geylang: 19.8 km | Towards Yishun: 20.5 km | ||||||||||
| Travelling Time | 70 mins | |||||||||||
| Operator Information | ||||||||||||
| BCM Route Package | Sembawang–Yishun Bus Package | |||||||||||
| Current Operator | Tower Transit Singapore Pte Ltd (Tower Transit Singapore) |
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| Current Depot | Mandai Bus Depot | |||||||||||
| Current Fleet | Single-deck & Double-deck buses Includes hybrid single deck buses (Volvo B5LH) |
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| Operating Hours | ||||||||||||
| Departure Times from Yishun |
Weekdays & Saturdays (except Public Holidays) |
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| 05:40 – 23:30 | ||||||||||||
| Departure Times from Lor 1 Geylang |
Weekdays & Saturdays (except Public Holidays) | |||||||||||
| 05:40 – 23:30 | ||||||||||||
| Operating Frequency | ||||||||||||
|  | 6:30am–8.30am | 8.31am–4.59pm | 5.00pm–7.00pm | After 7.00pm | ||||||||
| From Yishun | 13 – 14 mins | 13 – 14 mins | 14 – 15 mins | 15 – 18 mins | ||||||||
| From Lor 1 Geylang |
15 mins | 13 – 15 mins | 15 mins | 15 – 17 mins | ||||||||
| Fare Information |
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| Fare | Charges regular distance fares |
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Service 853 is an inter-town route serving between the housing estates of Yishun, Ang Mo Kio, Serangoon and Geylang Bahru. The route is frequented as a popular connection between various housing estates as an alternative to the MRT network, serving Yishun, Ang Mo Kio and Serangoon Town Centres.
While Service 853 plies between Yishun and Lorong 1 Geylang on regular weekdays and Saturdays, Service 853M plies an extended route between Yishun and Upper East Coast on Sundays and Public Holidays.
The route shares long duplicating sectors with both Services 851 and 852 between Yishun – Ang Mo Kio, but is otherwise non-duplicative from Ang Mo Kio to Lorong 1 Geylang.
MRT Stations Served
- NS13 Yishun
- NS14 Khatib
- NS15 Yio Chu Kang
- NE12CC13 Serangoon
- NE11 Woodleigh
- NE10 Potong Pasir
- DT24 Geylang Bahru
- EW10 Kallang
Route Variant
- Service 853M: Yishun Int ↔ Upper East Coast Ter
Sundays / Public Holidays only
Gallery (Tower Transit):
Gallery (SMRT Buses) at Page 2.
Poster Gallery
![[Updated] Route Amendment for Services 853 & 853M / Renumbering of Service 853# to 853M - Opening of Yishun Integrated Transport Hub](https://landtransportguru.net/web/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Sep19_Yishun-ITH-Opening_Sv853_853M_Updated-212x300.png)
Operator History
- 1987 – 2004: Trans-Island Bus Services Ltd
- 2004 – 04 Sep 2021: SMRT Buses Ltd
- 05 Sep 2021 – Present: Tower Transit Singapore Pte Ltd
The Bus Service Operating License (BSOL) for this route will be renewed in 2026 under the Sembawang–Yishun Bus Package.
History
- 1987 (20 Jan): Introduced between Yishun Central Ter and Lor 1 Geylang Ter
- 1987 (21 Jun): Revised to operate on weekdays and Saturdays only with the introduction of Service 853#
- 1987 (23 Aug): Amended to Yishun Int
- 1989: Serves new pair of bus stops outside Blk 206 and outside Blk 261 along Serangoon Ctrl
- 1989: Serves new staggered bus stop outside Blk 322 along Ang Mo Kio Ave 3
- 1989 (19 Nov): Serves new bus stop outside Kallang Stn along Sims Ave
- 1997 (08 Dec): Skips the bus stop outside Kallang Stn along Sims Ave
- 2002: Serves new pair of bus stops after Sommerville Rd and after Sunshine Lodge along Upp Serangoon Rd
- 2003 (04 May): Amended to ply Geylang Bahru, Bendemeer Rd, Whampoa East and Serangoon Rd, skipping Jln Kolam Ayer
- 2003 (20 Jun): Serves new pair of bus stops outside Potong Pasir Stn along Upp Serangoon Rd
- 2003: Skips a pair of bus stops near LP 94 and opposite LP 91 along Lentor Ave
- 2004 (27 Apr): Amended to ply Geylang Rd, Kallang Rd and Sims Ave towards Yishun Int with the temporary conversion of Lor 1 Geylang to one-way traffic
- 2004 (06 Dec): Amended to ply the reinstated Lor 1 Geylang towards Yishun Int, skipping Geylang Rd, Kallang Rd and Sims Ave
- 2011 (13 Feb): Amended to ply Yishun Central 2
- 2013 (29 Sep): Designated wheelchair-accessible bus service (WAB)
- 2014 (10 Aug): Amended to ply Yishun Central 1
- 2015 (14 Mar): Amended to Yishun Temp Int
- 2019 (08 Sep): Amended to Yishun Integrated Transport Hub
- 2020 (12 Jan): Skips a pair of abolished bus stops under and after Lentor Flyover along Lentor Ave
- 2021 (05 Sep): Operations transferred to Tower Transit under the Sembawang-Yishun Bus Package
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Hi I boarded 853 at Potong Pasir this evening, 19 June 2024. After about 2 bus stops the ticketing system was down and passenger could not tap out. The bus captain went to the rear exit to investigate and found that something went wrong. He immediately informed all the passengers in the bus that he needs a bit of time to check on it and apologised politely. He then called the control station and spoke very politely about the problem. He kept saying sorry to the control station staff for troubling them. Later he tried to re-boot the system and it worked. He then called the control station to inform that the issue was resolved and apologised again. After that he apologised to us, the passengers for the delay (in fact it’s only a few minutes). I alighted at Ang Mo Kio block 346 around 10.33pm. I must congratulate your company for having staff like him, so courteous not only to passengers but also colleagues. Help me thank this bus captain (didn’t managed to get his name) for making my trip a pleasant one.
A lot of single-deck buses perm service 853, even during peak hours. Hardly see double-deck buses.
The reason why TTS bus 980 has a lot of MAN A22s maybe it is coz they deploy a lot of MAN A22s on service 853 to interline to bus service 980
Dear Sir ,Mdm
Good morning i would like to feedback about your this bus driving who driving too slow waste my time , i was late for half hour to my office , this morning
19 oct 2020 morning time 7.30am I’m taking this bus 853 bus number SMB153D
who is a lady since like foreign driver who driving too slow and wait at bus stop at woodleign wait for few minute on road without any car jam , why must wait all passages time on this bus SMB153D . Please try to slove this matter promble thank you .
hmmm, it might actually be the bus is ahead of it’s schedule by too much
853 during weekdays is only 18 duties including split shift,Saturdays is only 15 buses while Sundays/PHs is only 22 duties and where in the world Sgwiki get 20 buses for weekdays and 29 buses on Sundays?The one they see is probably OS trips done by standby BCs