SMRT Bus Service 981

SMRT 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.

Route Overview
Route	[AM]: Sembawang Bus Interchange → Senoko Loop (Bef Senoko Dr) [PM]: Senoko Road (Opp Lian Aik Song Machinery) → Sembawang Bus Interchange
Passes Through	Canberra Rd, Admiralty Rd West, Senoko Rd
Route Length	Towards Senoko Loop: 8.2 km						Towards Sembawang: 8.3 km
Travelling Time	30 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: Yishun Temporary Bus Interchange
Current Fleet	12-metre Single Deck Bus: – MAN A22						12-metre Double Deck Bus: – Alexander Dennis Enviro500 – MAN A95
Operating Hours
Departure Times from Sembawang	Weekdays & Saturdays (except Public Holidays)
	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 – 9 mins			8 – 9 mins			–			–
From Senoko Rd	–			–			8 – 10 mins			8 – 9 mins
Fare Information
Fare	Charges regular distance fares

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

Operator History:

• 1999 – 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:

• 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): Designated wheelchair-accessible bus route (WAB)

Past Routings

Back to Bus Services
Back to Bus Articles