SMRT Bus Service 966

SMRT Bus Service 966 is a trunk route from Woodlands Temporary Interchange and looping at Marine Parade, passing through Marsiling, Bukit Panjang, Whitley, Jalan Toa Payoh, Eunos and Still Road. Incorporating long express sectors, the route serves as an important connection between the housing estates of Bukit Panjang, Toa Payoh, Eunos and Marine Parade.

Technical Information
Route	Woodlands Temporary Bus Interchange ↺ Marine Parade Road (Loop)
Passes Through	Marsiling, Bukit Panjang, Whitley, Jln Toa Payoh, Eunos, Still Rd
Route Length	63.5km
Travelling Time	125 mins (Off-Peak)
Operator Information
BCM Route Package	Sembawang – Yishun Bus Package
Current Operator	SMRT Buses Ltd
Current Depot	Ang Mo Kio Bus Depot (AMDEP)
Current Fleet	12-metre Double Deck Bus: – Alexander Dennis Enviro500 12-metre Single Deck Bus: – MAN NL323F
Departure Times from Woodlands	0530 – 2217 (Weekdays | Full Loop) 0545 – 2217 (Sat, Sun/PHs | Full Loop) 2230 – 2330 (Daily | Terminates at Parkway Parade, B02 Marine Parade Rd)
Departure Times from Looping Pt	From Opp Parkway Parade, B01 Marine Parade Rd 0545 – 2330 (Weekdays) 0600 – 2330 (Sat, Sun/PHs)
Frequency	Loop Service:	Notes
	0630-0830: 05 – 07 mins 0831-1659: 05 – 11 mins 1700-1900: 06 – 10 mins After 1900: 10 – 13 mins	From 2230hrs onwards, buses leaving Woodlands Temp Int will terminate at Marine Parade Road (Parkway Parade).

Route Information

Service 966 is an inter-town route serving between the housing estates around Woodlands, Bukit Panjang, Jalan Toa Payoh, Eunos and Marine Parade. The route is frequented as a fast connection between Woodlands, Bukit Panjang, Toa Payoh and Eunos due to its long express sectors along the Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE) and Pan-Island Expressway (PIE).

The route shares its Woodlands – Bukit Panjang sector with Services 187 and 963, but is otherwise non-duplicative for most of its route and boasts many unique connections. Despite few duplicating routes, this service experiences moderate to low demand during off-peak hours, but very high demand during peak hours. As such, high capacity Alexander Dennis Enviro500 double-deck buses were deployed in August 2014 to cope with peak hour loads. As of 2015, the BSEP has added a significant eight buses to improve the route, among the most resources allocated to enhancing an existing bus route under the BSEP.

The route being exceptionally long has a runtime of around 2 hours and 20 minutes, and is prone to bunching up and delays due to expressway jams during the peak hours, causing large fluctuations in bus frequency. From 2230hrs onwards (daily), buses leaving Woodlands Temp Int will terminate at Marine Parade Road (Parkway Parade), but continues to operate as Service 966 (without other indications of its half-trip nature).

MRT/LRT Stations served:

•  NS9   Woodlands
•  NS8   Marsiling
•  BP8   Pending
•  EW7   Eunos

Special Departures:

• Marine Parade Road (Opp Parkway Parade) → Woodlands Temp Int
  Weekdays: 0545hrs, 0600hrs, 0615hrs, 0630hrs (4 departures)
  Saturdays: 0600hrs, 0615hrs, 0630hrs (3 departures)
  Sat/Sun/PHs: 0600hrs, 0620hrs (2 departures)
  
• Bt Panjang Road (Blk 223) → Marine Parade → Woodlands Temp Int
  Weekdays AM Peak; Saturdays 0605hrs; Sunday 0600hrs
• Woodlands Temp Int → Marine Parade (Parkway Parade)
  Daily, 2230hrs – 2330hrs

Fare: Charges basic distance fares. See Bus Fares. Calculate your bus fare using LTA’s fare calculator on MyTransport.sg here.

Gallery:

Operator History:

• 2003 – 2004: Trans-Island Bus Services Ltd
• 2004 – Present: SMRT Buses Ltd

The Bus Service Operating License (BSOL) for this route will be renewed in 2020 as part of the Sembawang – Yishun Bus Package.

History:

• 2003 (16 Nov): Introduced between Woodlands Regional Int and Marine Parade (Loop).
• 2007 (07 Jan): Amended to ply Bukit Panjang Rd, Pending Rd, Petir Rd and Dairy Farm Rd in both directions instead of BKE (express)
• 2011 (04 Sep): Amended to Whampoa East instead of Whampoa North, due to the closure of Whampoa North for the new Woodsville Interchange
• 2012 (21 Oct): Amended to skip Bendemeer Rd / Serangoon Rd entirely
• 2012 (15 Nov): Designated wheelchair-accessible bus route (WAB)
• 2013: Service improvement under the Bus Service Enhancement Programme (BSEP)
• 2014 (18 Aug): Alexander Dennis Enviro500 double-deck buses deployed
• 2016 (12 Mar): Amended to Woodlands Temp Int

Past Routings:

• Refer to this article
• 2007: Amended to present routing. No significant route changes since 2007.

External Links & References:

• TransitLink E-Guide

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