SMRT Bus Service 969
SMRT Bus Service 969 is a trunk route between Woodlands Temporary Interchange and Tampines Interchange, passing through Admiralty, Gambas Avenue, Yishun, Khatib and Tampines Concourse. The popular route plies a long express sector along the SLE and TPE, offering the fastest bus connection between Tampines and Khatib/Yishun.
| Technical Information | ||
Route  |
Woodlands Temporary Bus Interchange ↔ Tampines Bus Interchange | |
| Passes Through | Admiralty, Gambas Ave, Yishun, Khatib, SLE, TPE, Tampines Ave 12, Tampines Concourse | |
| Route Length | 27.6 km (D1) | 27.2 km (D2) | |
| Travelling Time | 70 mins | |
| 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 – MAN A95 18-metre Articulated Bus: – Mercedes-Benz O405G – MAN A24 12-metre Single Deck Bus: – Mercedes-Benz O530 Citaro |
|
| Departure Times from Woodlands | 0530hrs – 2345hrs (Weekdays, Saturdays) 0545hrs – 2345hrs (Sundays/PHs) |
|
| Departure Times from Tampines |
0530hrs – 2345hrs (Weekdays, Saturdays) 0545hrs – 2345hrs (Sundays/PHs) |
|
| Frequency | Direction 1 | Direction 2 |
| 0630-0830: 04 – 07 mins 0831-1659: 04 – 13 mins 1700-1900: 07 – 11 mins After 1900: 09 – 12 mins |
0630-0830: 03 – 08 mins 0831-1659: 05 – 12 mins 1700-1900: 06 – 07 mins After 1900: 03 – 10 mins |
|
Service 969 is an inter-town route serving between the housing estates around Woodlands, Yishun and Tampines. The route is frequented as a fast connection between Yishun and Tampines owing to its express sector along the Seletar Expressway (SLE) and Tampines Expressway (TPE). The route also calls at Tampines Expressway (Punggol Road) Bus Interchange for convenient transfers to and from other TPE Corridor bus services.
From Tampines Interchange, Service 39 also plies between Tampines and Yishun, but takes a much longer journey by serving Pasir Ris. Service 168 also covers the Tampines to Woodlands sector with a faster journey time than 969 by skipping Yishun town.
As the fastest public transport link between Tampines and Yishun, this service experiences good demand all day round with significantly higher demand during peak hours. Many buses are added during peak periods to cope with the demand increase, and high capacity Alexander Dennis Enviro500 double-deck buses were deployed from August 2014 to cope with peak hour loads. The journey between Yishun and Tampines takes around 40 minutes during off-peak periods.
At Tampines Interchange, passengers who wish to get a seat for the long express journey usually queue up at the boarding berth. Passengers can board the bus without joining the queue, usually only after all seats have been occupied.
Extension via Tampines Concourse
As part of the Bus Service Enhancements with the opening of Tampines Concourse Bus Interchange, Bus Service 969 was amended to ply Tampines Concourse from 18 December 2016. As a result, Bus Service 969 calls at 3 pair of new bus stops (2 pairs along Tampines Concourse and 1 pair along Tampines Ave 9).
MRT Stations Served:
Special Departures:
- Yishun Ave 2 (Yishun Stn) → Woodlands Temp Int
Weekdays mornings - Sembawang Road (Blk 114) → Tampines Int
Weekdays AM Peak hours
- Yishun Ave 2 (Opp Yishun Stn) → Tampines Int
Weekdays AM/PM Peak hours
Short Trip Service
- Service 969A: Tampines Interchange → Yishun Avenue 2 (Yishun Stn)
Weekdays AM/PM Peak hours
Service 969A was introduced in 2013 to cope with high demand between Tampines and Yishun, where most of the demand of Service 969 is encountered.
Fare: Charges basic distance fares. See Bus Fares. Calculate your bus fare using LTA’s fare calculator on MyTransport.sg here.
Gallery:
Operator History:
- 2001 – 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 under the Sembawang – Yishun Bus Package.
History:
- 2001 (15 Apr): Introduced between Woodlands Regional Int and Tampines Int.
- 2013: Service improvement under the Bus Service Enhancement Programme (BSEP)
- 2013 (07 Jul): Designated wheelchair-accessible bus route (WAB)
- 2014 (18 Aug): Alexander Dennis Enviro500 double-deck buses deployed
- 2014 (05 Oct): Calls at Tampines Expressway (Punggol Road) Bus Interchange
- 2016 (12 Mar): Amended to Woodlands Temp Int
- 2016 (18 Dec): Amended to ply Tampines Concourse instead of Tampines Ave 7
Past Routings:
External Links & References:
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I must compliment on this bus svc 969 12 July 6.25pm, SG5821C! I rarely come across bus which is so quiet and running smoothly along TPE! Maybe this bus is really well maintained and driven by a good driver!
But why SMRT bus service 969 are getting full single deck Citaro & OC500LE Bus Fleet since it was selected under LYDEP? Only can see 1 or 2 double deck buses on Sv 969! Sv 969 should get at least 8 – 10 double deck buses like SMRT does when it was under WPDEP.
I hope this service will be majority Amdep/Lybp when SMRT park at Loyang and deploy more A95