SMRT Bus Service 965

SMRT Bus Service 965 is a trunk route from Woodlands Temporary Interchange and looping at Sengkang Interchange, passing through Admiralty, Gambas Avenue, Yishun, Khatib, SLE, TPE and Compassvale. It is one of several routes plying express along the TPE/SLE corridor.

Route Overview
Route	Woodlands Temporary Bus Interchange ↺ Sengkang Bus Interchange (Loop)
Passes Through	Woodlands Ave 7, Gambas Ave, Yishun Ave 2, Compassvale St
Route Length	42.5 km
Traveling Time	100 mins
Operator Information
BCM Route Package	Sembawang–Yishun Bus Package
Current Operator	SMRT Buses Ltd
Current Depot	Ang Mo Kio Bus Depot (AMDEP) Buses park at: Woodlands Bus Park (WLBP)
Current Fleet	12-metre Single Deck Bus – MAN A22 – Mercedes-Benz Citaro						12-metre Double Deck Bus – Alexander Dennis Enviro 500 – MAN A95
Operating Hours
Departure Times from Woodlands	Weekdays & Saturdays								Sundays / Public Holidays
	05:30 – 23:30								05:45 – 23:30
	Buses leaving Woodlands Temp Int after 22:44 will terminate at Sengkang Int.
Departure Times from Sengkang	Weekdays				Saturdays, Sundays / Public Holidays
	05:45 – 23:30				06:00 – 23:30
Operating Frequency
	6:30am–8.30am			8.31am–4.59pm			5.00pm–7.00pm			After 7.00pm
Frequency	4 – 9 mins			8 – 13 mins			4 – 11 mins			6 – 15 mins
Fare Information
Fare	Charges regular distance fares

Service 965 is an inter-town route serving between the housing estates of Woodlands, Yishun and Sengkang. The route is frequented as a fast connection between Yishun and Sengkang due to its express sector along the Seletar Expressway (SLE) and Tampines Expressway (TPE). Service 85 also plies between Sengkang and Yishun, but serves bus stops along Sengkang West and Jalan Kayu before travelling to Yishun.

As the fastest public transport link between Sengkang and Yishun, this service experiences good demand all day round with higher demand during peak hours. High capacity Alexander Dennis Enviro500 double-deck buses were deployed from November 2014 to cope with peak hour loads.

Between Woodlands and Sengkang, Service 161 offers the faster route by skipping Yishun town entirely. From 2244hrs onwards (Daily), buses leaving Woodlands Temp Int will terminate at Sengkang Int but continue to operate as Service 965 (without other indications of its half-trip nature).

MRT/LRT Stations Served:

• NS9TE2 Woodlands
• NS10 Admiralty
• NS13 Yishun
• NS14 Khatib
• SE1 Compassvale
• NE16STC Sengkang

Special Departures:

• Sengkang Int → Woodlands Temp Int
  Weekdays: 05:30, 05:39, 05:48, 05:57, 06:06 & 06:15
  Saturdays: 05:30 – 06:15
  Sundays / Public Holidays: 05:45 ~ 06:30
• Yishun Ave 2 (Yishun Stn) → Woodlands Temp Int
  Weekdays: 06:32, 06:55, 07:16, 18:07, 19:15 & 20:15

Short Trip Service

• Service 965A: Woodlands Temporary Interchange → Yishun Avenue 2 (Opp Yishun Stn)
  Weekdays (except Public Holidays): 06:21 – 06:57 & 17:32 – 19:49

Gallery

Operator History

• 2002 – 2004: Trans-Island Bus Services Ltd
• 2004 – Present: SMRT Buses Ltd
• (~September 2021) onwards: Tower Transit Singapore Pte Ltd

Operations for this route would be transferred to Tower Transit in 2021 as part of the Sembawang – Yishun Bus Package.

The Bus Service Operating License (BSOL) for this route will be renewed in 2026 under the Sembawang – Yishun Bus Package.

History

• 2002 (07 Jul): Introduced from Woodlands Regional interchange and looping at Sengkang
• 2003 (18 Jan): Amended to loop at air-conditioned Sengkang Integrated Transport Hub (ITH)
• 2013 (Feb): Service improvement under the Bus Service Enhancement Programme (BSEP)
• 2013 (07 Jul): Designated wheelchair-accessible bus route (WAB)
• 2014 (17 Nov): Alexander Dennis Enviro500 double-deck buses deployed
• 2015 (Dec): Bus Service Reliability Framework (BSRF) implemented for trial till Aug 2016
• 2016 (12 Mar): Amended to Woodlands Temp Int
• 2020 (22 Mar): Calls at a new pair of bus stops along Gambas Ave

Past Routings