Tower Transit Bus Service 873 is a trunk service operating from Tengah and looping at Hume MRT Station, connecting Tengah to Bukit Gombak, Hume, and Hillview MRT stations. Departures alternate with Service 873M, a variant that runs a shorter route looping at Bukit Batok Street 52.
Bus Services 873 & 873M will be launched on Sunday, 25 October 2026.
↺ Upp Bt Timah Rd (Loop)
| Route Overview | ||||||||||||
Route  |
Tengah Bus Interchange ↺ Upp Bukit Timah Rd (Loop) | |||||||||||
| Passes Through | Bt Batok Rd, Bt Batok West Ave 7, Bt Batok West Ave 5, Hillview Ave | |||||||||||
| Route Length | TBC | |||||||||||
| Travelling Time | TBC | |||||||||||
| Operator Information | ||||||||||||
| BCM Route Package | Bulim Bus Package | |||||||||||
| Current Operator | Tower Transit Singapore Pte Ltd (Tower Transit Singapore) |
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| Current Depot | Bulim Bus Depot | |||||||||||
| Current Fleet | TBC | |||||||||||
| Operating Hours | ||||||||||||
| Departure Times from Tengah |
Daily | |||||||||||
| 05:30 – 23:30 | ||||||||||||
| Operating Frequency | ||||||||||||
| Loop Service | Weekday Peak Hours: 20 mins Weekday Off-Peak Hours, Saturdays & Sundays / Public Holidays: 30 mins |
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| Fare Information |
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| Fare | Charges regular distance fares |
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Bus Service 873 connects Tengah to the Bukit Gombak, Hume, and Hillview MRT stations, providing direct access to schools and amenities in Bukit Batok West, Bukit Gombak, and Hillview.
This service is introduced under the LTA’s Bus Connectivity Enhancement Programme (BCEP), a ~$900 million government scheme that funds new buses, infrastructure improvements, and operating costs of new bus services between 2024–2032.
Alternate Departures
Service 873 schedules alternate departures from Tengah Interchange with its variant, Service 873M. Service 873M runs a shorter route that loops at Bukit Batok Street 52.
Between Tengah, Bukit Gombak MRT Station, and Bukit Batok Street 52, the combined services offer a 10-minute frequency during weekday peak hours, and a 15-minute frequency during weekday off-peak hours, weekends, and Public Holidays.
MRT Stations Served
- NS3 Bukit Gombak
- DT4 Hume
- DT3 Hillview
Route Variant
- Service 873M: Tengah Int ↺ Bukit Batok St 52 (Loop)
Daily; Alternate departures from Tengah Int. Operates a shorter route looping at Bukit Gombak.
Poster Gallery
Operator History:
- From 25 Oct 2026: Tower Transit Singapore Pte Ltd
Route History:
- 2026 (25 Oct): Introduced between Tengah Int and Upp Bukit Timah Rd (Loop) under the LTA’s Bus Connectivity Enhancement Programme (BCEP), operating as alternate departures with route variant Service 873M.
Back to Bus Services
Suspect TTS will lease all the 6 A22 from storage and a few more Citaro from GAS and wouldn’t be suprised if Mandai transfer over a few DDs as well(Enviro500 and A95) for both 873 and 874.
SMRT GBDEP should likely have enough Diesel SD buses to transfer out for 873 & 968 since they been transferring lots of their A22 to other operators as of recent. 874 can make do with the 4 A22 E5 & 2 A22 E6 in storage. As for DD, either the operator have to try squeeze with what they have or take from SBST SWDEP/SMRT GBDEP or even BNDEP. Apparently GAS did not lease enough buses to run Tampines Package so now they have been transferring some buses as Loan from LYDEP, all the SG Citaros from SMRT, some citaros and so far a A22 from SBST BNDEP. If GAS dont want more buses, just take from BNDEP: Citaros or A22s.
This route along with 452 makes 871 look very redundant now … seems like misplaced priorities considering many Yew Tee (c.f. St 62, North 6) residents still don’t have direct bus access to DTL and no resources are allocated to them.
I would say, not really. While 871 and 873 do shares Bukit Batok East Ave 2, they both went two different directions after East Ave 5 (the junction of East Ave 5 and East Ave 2). On the other end of East Ave 5, 873 turns right into the bus stop on opposite Gombak MRT while 871 turns left towards Bukit Batok West. 871 imho, still have some use.
The REAL redundant seem to be more for feeder bus 945. 871 and now 873 shares ALOT of similarities with 945. 871 shares the East Ave 2 junction with BB Central while 873 shares the entire stretch from Gombak MRT to HomeTeamNS. And 945, 871 and 873 shares the entire Street 52 stretch. The only advantage 945 have once 873 starts operational, is where they start/end, Bukit Batok interchange (and Bukit Batok MRT station, to some extend, West Mall).
So now Hillview & Hume have the family of 173, 873 & 973.
and 653
Finally, a Tengah bus service that actually calls at the bus stop directly beside Bukit Gombak MRT station.
It looks as though this may explain why that pair of bus stops was recently upgraded.
Perhaps the upgrades were carried out in preparation for this service, which would explain why it has only been introduced now.