SMRT Bus Service 961M

SMRT Bus Service 961M is a trunk route between Woodlands Temporary Bus Interchange and Lorong 1 Geylang Terminal, passing through Woodlands Road, Upper Bukit Timah, Bukit Merah, Chinatown, City Hall, Marina Centre, Beach Road and Kallang Bahru. It plies Raffles Boulevard and Raffles Avenue in both directions.

Service 961M operates only on Sundays and Public Holidays as an extended route of Service 961, serving the Marina Centre area additionally.

Note

• Bus Service 961M towards Lor 1 Geylang Ter & Woodlands Temp Int duplicates along Raffles Blvd & Raffles Ave.
  Check the bus destination before boarding.

Route Overview
Route	Woodlands Temporary Bus Interchange ↔ Lorong 1 Geylang Bus Terminal
Passes Through	Woodlands Ave 3, Woodlands Rd, Upp Bukit Timah Rd, Dunearn Rd / Bukit Timah Rd, Farrer Rd, Queensway, Jln Bukit Merah, Eu Tong Sen St / New Bridge Rd, Raffles Ave, Beach Rd
Route Length	Towards Lor 1 Geylang: 38.1 km						Towards Woodlands: 37.2 km
Travelling Time	110 mins
Operator Information
BCM Route Package	Woodlands Bus Package
Current Operator	SMRT Buses Ltd
Current Depot	Woodlands Bus Depot (WLDEP) Seletar Bus Depot (SEDEP)
Current Fleet	Single Deck Bus – MAN A22						Double Deck Bus – MAN A95
Operating Hours
Departure Times from Woodlands Temp Int	Sundays / Public Holidays
	05:50 – 23:30
Departure Times from Lor 1 Geylang	Sundays / Public Holidays
	06:00 – 23:30
Operating Frequency
	6:30am–8.30am			8.31am–4.59pm			5.00pm–7.00pm			After 7.00pm
From Woodlands Temp Int	12 – 14 mins			10 – 12 mins			11 – 14 mins			14 – 15 mins
From Lor 1 Geylang	14 mins			8 – 13 mins			13 – 14 mins			14 – 16 mins
Fare Information
Fare	Charges regular distance fares

Service 961M is a lengthy inter-town route connecting the housing estates of Woodlands, Bukit Panjang, Farrer and Bukit Merah, with the suburban areas of Upper Bukit Timah, Bukit Timah and Bendemeer, and with the City areas of Chinatown, Clarke Quay, City Hall, Marina Centre and Beach Road. As a route variant of Service 961, Service 961M only operates on Sundays and Public Holidays, and serves Marina Centre in both directions.

MRT / LRT Stations Served

• NS9TE2 Woodlands
• NS8 Marsiling
• NS7 Kranji
• DT1–BP6 Bukit Panjang
• DT2 Cashew
• DT3 Hillview
• DT5 Beauty World
• DT6 King Albert Park
• DT7 Sixth Avenue
• DT8 Tan Kah Kee
• CC20 Farrer Road
• EW16NE3TE17 Outram Park
• NE4DT19 Chinatown
• NE5 Clarke Quay
• EW13NS25 City Hall
• CC3 Esplanade
• CC4DT15 Promenade
• DT23 Bendemeer
• EW10 Kallang

Route Variant

• Service 961: Woodlands Temp Int ↔ Lor 1 Geylang Ter
  Weekdays & Saturdays only, except Public Holidays

Gallery:

Poster Gallery:

Operator History:

• 2019 – Present: SMRT Buses Ltd

The Bus Service Operating License (BSOL) for this route will be renewed in 2023 under the Woodlands Bus Package.

History:

Service 961#

• 1998 (27 Dec): Re-numbered from Service 181# between Woodlands Reg Int and Lor 1 Geylang Ter via Marina Centre, operating on Sundays and Public Holidays only
• 1999 (10 Jul): Amended to ply Parliament Pl, skipping Hill St and Bras Basah Rd
• 1999 (26 Dec): Amended to ply Lavender St, Kallang Bahru and Boon Keng Rd under Bukit Panjang LRT Rationalisation, replacing the deleted sectors of Service 5
• 2002 (20 Apr): Amended to ply Upp Cross St and the reinstated New Bridge Rd, skipping South Bridge Rd, Neil Rd and Cantonment Rd
• 2004: Skips abolished bus stop outside Nanyang Pr Sch along Farrer Rd
• 2004 (27 Apr): Amended to ply Geylang Rd, Kallang Rd and Sims Ave towards Woodlands Reg Int with the temporary conversion of Lor 1 Geylang to a one-way road
• 2004 (06 Dec): Amended to ply the reinstated Lor 1 Geylang towards Woodlands Reg Int, skipping Geylang Rd, Kallang Rd and Sims Ave
• 2010 (23 May): Skips temporarily abolished bus stop outside Assumption Voc Inst along Upp Bt Timah Rd to facilitate the construction of Cashew MRT station along the Downtown MRT Line
• 2013 (29 Dec): Serves new bus stop outside Outram Pk Stn along New Bridge Rd
• 2014 (02 Mar): Designated wheelchair-accessible bus route (WAB)
• 2015 (01 Mar): Serves reinstated bus stop outside Assumption Pathway Sch along Upp Bt Timah Rd
• 2016 (12 Mar): Amended to Woodlands Temp Int
• 2016 (11 Dec): Serves new bus stop opposite Blk 635A along Woodlands Rd
• 2017 (28 May): Skips abolished bus stop opposite Mandai Rd along Woodlands Rd
• 2017 (26 Nov): Serves the bus stop after Hospital Dr along Eu Tong Sen St, skipping abolished bus stop before Hospital Dr along Kg Bahru Rd
• 2018 (10 Jun): Serves new bus stop before Yew Tee Flyover along Woodlands Rd
• 2019 (08 Sep): Service 961# renumbered to Service 961M

Service 961M

• 2019 (08 Sep): Service 961# renumbered to Service 961M

Past Routings

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