Deployment Timeline of High Capacity Buses

Since 1977, high capacity buses have been operated by public bus operators in Singapore to cater to bus services with high passenger demand with the provision of more seats or standing areas. The deployment of such buses also helps to optimise the deployment of limited manpower and buses operating on heavily utilised bus services.

2 types of high capacity buses are currently operated in Singapore – double-deck buses and articulated buses. SBS Transit, SMRT Buses and Tower Transit Singapore currently operate both double-deck and articulated buses, while Go-Ahead Singapore operates double-deck buses only.

While a vast majority of public bus services in Singapore operate high capacity buses regularly, several bus services do not, due to insufficient passenger demand or route restrictions. Refer to our Fleet Restrictions article for specific information on these bus services.

Double-Deck Buses

Double-deck buses were first introduced by the Singapore Bus Service (SBS) in 1977. Additional capacity is provided through more seating on the upper deck, compared to single-deck buses. However, standing is not allowed on the upper deck for safety reasons.

With the introduction of air-conditioned double-deck buses since 1993, the overall capacity for double-deck buses have increased with more seats retrofitted on their upper decks. Previously, the total capacity on non-air-conditioned double-deck buses are comparable with that of air-conditioned single-deck buses due to the shorter lengths of non-air-conditioned double-deck buses than standard rigid buses.

Double-deck buses used to be operated by SBS (now SBS Transit) only until 2014, when SMRT Buses started its operation of new double-deck buses procured to replace its retiring fleet of articulated buses. Initially, SMRT Buses had intended to deploy double-deck buses on heavily utilised trunk and Express services only, as commuters tend to travel longer distances on these services. However, as more double-deck buses were purchased by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) in favour of articulated buses, SMRT Buses eventually started deploying double-deck buses on feeder services from 2018.

Tower Transit Singapore and Go-Ahead Singapore also started operating double-deck buses when taking over their awarded route packages under the Bus Contracting Model (BCM) since 2016.

Since the 1st quarter of 2021, 100 double-deck buses with an additional exit door have been introduced on bus services across the 4 bus operators.

Existing Deployments of Double-Deck Buses

Only regular deployments of double-deck buses on operational bus services are listed in the table below:

Trunk Services:

Feeder Services:

Express / City Direct Services: