Tower Transit Bus Service 981 is a Peak-Hour, unidirectional trunk route between Sembawang Interchange and Senoko Industrial Estate, passing through Canberra Road and Senoko Drive. The route links industrial areas around Senoko and Admiralty Road West with the transport node of Sembawang.
Tower Transit operates this bus service from 3 Oct 2021, under the Sembawang-Yishun Bus Package.
| Route Overview | ||||||||||||
Route  |
[AM]: Sembawang Bus Interchange → Senoko Loop (Bef Senoko Dr) [PM]: Senoko Road (Opp Lian Aik Song Machinery) → Sembawang Bus Interchange |
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| Passes Through | Canberra Rd, Admiralty Rd West, Senoko Rd | |||||||||||
| Route Length | Towards Senoko Loop: 8.2 km |
Towards Sembawang: 8.3 km |
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| Travelling Time | 30 mins | |||||||||||
| Operator Information | ||||||||||||
| BCM Route Package | Sembawang–Yishun Bus Package | |||||||||||
| Current Operator | Tower Transit Singapore Pte Ltd (Tower Transit Singapore) |
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| Current Depot | Mandai Bus Depot | |||||||||||
| Current Fleet | 12-metre Single Deck Bus: – MAN A22 – Mercedes-Benz OC500LE |
12-metre Double Deck Bus: – Alexander Dennis Enviro500 – MAN A95 |
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| Operating Hours | ||||||||||||
| Departure Times from Sembawang |
Weekdays & Saturdays (except Public Holidays) |
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| 06:45 – 09:15 | ||||||||||||
| Departure Times from Senoko Rd |
Weekdays (except Public Holidays) | Saturdays (except Public Holidays) | ||||||||||
| 17:00 – 19:30 | 12:00 – 14:00 | |||||||||||
| Operating Frequency | ||||||||||||
| 6:30am–8.30am | 8.31am–4.59pm | 5.00pm–7.00pm | After 7.00pm | |||||||||
| From Sembawang |
8 – 10 mins | 10 mins | – | – | ||||||||
| From Senoko Rd |
– | – | 10 mins | 10 mins | ||||||||
| Fare Information |
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| Fare | Charges regular distance fares |
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Service 981 is a largely industrial route, connecting the many industries around Senoko Loop, Senoko Dr, Senoko Rd, Senoko Avenue and Admiralty Road West with transport nodes at Sembawang Town Centre. The route also serves dedicated sectors along sections of Senoko Road/Drive/Loop with no other bus services.
Operating only on Weekdays and Saturdays, the route plies in a unidirectional fashion, with Senoko-bound trips in the morning and Sembawang-bound trips in the afternoon or evening. (On Saturdays, the return trips are operated in the afternoon rather than the evening.)
Apart from Service 981, Services 169 and 856 provide daily bus connections to the industrial areas around Senoko and Admiralty Rd West.
MRT Station Served:
- NS11 Sembawang
Gallery (Tower Transit):
Gallery (SMRT Buses):
Poster Gallery
Operator History:
- 1999 – 2004: Trans-Island Bus Services Ltd
- 2004 – 02 Oct 2021: SMRT Buses Ltd
- 03 Oct 2021 – Present: Tower Transit Singapore Pte Ltd
The Bus Service Operating License (BSOL) for this route will be renewed in 2026 under the Sembawang–Yishun Bus Package.
History:
- 1999: Introduced between Canberra Rd and Senoko Loop (AM Peak) and between Senoko Rd and Canberra Rd (PM Peak) as a peak hour one-directional service on weekdays and Saturdays
- 2002 (04 Feb): Amended to start from Sembawang Way for morning peak trips and terminate at Sembawang Way for evening peak trips
- 2005 (20 Nov): Extended to Sembawang Int
- 2013 (21 Apr):Â Designated wheelchair-accessible bus route (WAB)
- 2021 (03 Oct): Operations transferred to Tower Transit under the Sembawang-Yishun Bus Package
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This service, bus128 and bus177 needs to be a 24/7 trunk services, bus 128 needs to call more stops and this service can loop at Senoko drive. No change in bus 177, just adjust the operating hours
128 – WITHDRAWN already, people can take 162 or NSL
177 – The reason why is set at peak hour as its to commute soldiers at MINDEF between Bukit Batok and Bukit Panjang. Majority of the route are covered by 176.
This bus service is AMDEP according to SgWiki and I saw the 4 perm carrying refueling work at amdep
Maybe for temporary measure or just refuel at Amdep.882 also I think will be back to Wldep.