Tower Transit Express Bus Service 97e

Tower Transit Express Bus Service 97e is an express route between Jurong East and Marina Centre, passing through AYE, Alexandra, HarbourFront, Shenton Way, Bayfront and Suntec City. This bus service calls at limited stops along the parent route – Service 97.

Note:

• No Boarding & Alighting at Marina Centre Terminal

Route Overview
Route	[AM]: Jurong East Bus Interchange → Marina Centre Bus Terminal [PM]: Marina Centre Bus Terminal → Jurong East Bus Interchange
Passes Through	AYE, Alexandra Rd, Telok Blangah Rd, Keppel Rd, Marina Blvd, Central Blvd, Bayfront Ave, Temasek Blvd
Route Length	Towards Marina Centre: 20.9 km						Towards Jurong East: 22.3 km
Travelling Time	67 – 74 mins
Operator Information
BCM Route Package	Bulim Bus Package
Current Operator	Tower Transit Singapore Pte Ltd (Tower Transit Singapore)
Current Depot	Bulim Bus Depot
Current Fleet	Single-deck & Double-deck buses
Operating Hours
Departure Times from Jurong East	Weekdays, except Public Holidays
	07:36 – 08:24
Departure Times from Marina Centre	Weekdays, except Public Holidays
	18:06 – 18:54
Operating Frequency
From Jurong East	16 mins
From Marina Centre	24 mins
Fare Information
Fare	Charges express distance fares

Bus Service 97e is a Limited-stop Express Bus Service which offers quicker journeys for commuters living at Jurong East and Clementi, linking them with industries at Alexandra, HarbourFront and the City areas of Shenton Way, Bayfront and Marina Centre. Operating during the peak hours, it plies the exact same route as its parent Bus Service 97, but only calls at selected bus stops along its route.

The service was first introduced by SBS Transit in January 2005, then branded Fast-Forward and the first Fast-Forward service to be introduced, touting shorter journey times for peak hour commuters and the use of the lowercase e as the service suffix. For a three-month period starting in February 2005, passengers on each trip were offered a complimentary copy of The Business Times every morning.

Owing to the success of 97e, SBS Transit subsequently introduced 8 more Fast-Forward services to benefit other trunk routes.

In June 2016, operations for Fast Forward 97e was transferred to Tower Transit under the Bus Contracting Model, and the service was rebranded to an Express Service.

From 31 May 2021, the number of trips was reduced as part of Bulim Bus Package (2nd Term) changes. Previously, 5 trips were operated in each direction during the morning & evening peak hours; this was reduced to 4 & 3 trips respectively during the morning & evening peak hours.

If the eves of Christmas, New Year’s Day, and Chinese New Year fall on a weekday, the Evening Peak departures will be brought forward to the afternoon. Revised departure times will be provided by the operator closer to the affected date.

MRT Stations Served

• EW24NS1 Jurong East
• CC28 Telok Blangah
• NE1CC29 HarbourFront
• EW15 Tanjong Pagar
• TE19 Shenton Way
• DT17 Downtown
• NS27CE2TE20 Marina Bay
• CE1DT16 Bayfront
• CC3 Esplanade
• CC4DT15 Promenade

Departure Timings

Weekdays (except Public Holidays)

• Morning Peak from Jurong East Int:
  07:36, 07:52, 08:08 & 08:24
• Evening Peak from Marina Centre Ter:
  18:06, 18:30 & 18:54

Route Variant:

• Service 97: Jurong East Int ↔ Marina Centre Ter
  Daily

Gallery

Gallery (F1 Diversion)

Poster Gallery

Operator History

• 03 Jan 2005 – 10 Jun 2016: SBS Transit Ltd
• 13 Jun 2016 – Present: Tower Transit Singapore Pte Ltd

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

History

• 2005 (03 Jan): Introduced between Jurong East Int and Fullerton Rd (Fullerton Sq) during morning peak hours and between Collyer Quay (Clifford Pier) and Jurong East Int during evening peak hours as a peak hour one-directional Fast Forward service on weekdays
• 2005 (12 Jun): Serves new bus stop outside Science Park along AYE
• 2006 (29 Oct): Serves new bus stop outside VivoCity and additional bus stop opposite VivoCity along Telok Blangah Rd
• 2009 (23 Feb): Extended to terminate at Raffles Ave (The Esplanade) for morning peak trips and start from Temasek Blvd (Suntec Convention Ctr) for evening peak trips;
  Serves additional pair of bus stops outside Blk 44 and opposite Blk 45 along Telok Blangah Rd
• 2010 (26 Apr): Amended to Marina Ctr Ter
• 2011 (17 Dec): Amended to Jurong East Temp Int
• 2013 (01 Dec): Serves new bus stop outside Downtown Stn along Central Blvd
• 2015 (28 Sep): Designated wheelchair-accessible bus service (WAB)
• 2016 (13 Jun): Operations transferred to Tower Transit Singapore Pte Ltd from SBS Transit Ltd
• 2020 (08 Apr – 01 Jun): Temporarily suspended due to Singapore COVID-19 Circuit Breaker Measures
• 2020 (06 Dec): Amended to relocated Jurong East Int, skipping Jurong East Ctrl
• 2021 (27 Feb): Amended to the relocated Marina Ctr Ter
• 2021 (31 May): Serves additional bus stops opposite Jurong Town Hall, outside and opposite German Ctr along Jurong Town Hall Rd; Reduction of 1 AM Peak Trip & 2 PM Peak Trips

Past Routings

Changes in Departure Timings

Back to Fast Forward Services
Back to Express Services
Back to Bus Services