History of Bukit Panjang Bus Services

Introduction:

Bukit Panjang is one of Singapore’s latest satellite towns developed since the late 1980s, located in the north-western region of the island. To cater to the increasing population in the developing public housing estate, SBS gradually introduced new trunk services and extended the routes of existing trunk services from the adjacent areas of Bukit Timah and Clementi, as well as providing several feeder services that connected the town’s neighbourhoods with the town centre.

While there was no specific bus plan implemented by SBS, Bukit Panjang Bus Interchange serves as the main transport hub for bus services (and later the MRT) in the housing estate, opening its doors on 26th December 1999 at the junction of Petir Road and Jelebu Road. The current air-conditioned Integrated Transport Hub (ITH) sits on the former location of the bus interchange.

Pre-Interchange Opening (1986 – 1999):

Before the development of Bukit Panjang New Town, the area where the housing estate occupies today was mainly served by long distance trunk services along Upper Bukit Timah Road and Woodlands Road. A former roadside bus terminus was established near the defunct Bukit Panjang Circus along Upper Bukit Timah Road in 1971, serving as the terminating point for various long distance trunk services heading towards the City before its abolition in 1980.

In June 1986, SBS introduced its 1st bus route in Bukit Panjang, with the route extension for Bus Service 5 from Bukit Timah. At the time, the new town was named Zhenghua New Town, with the roadside bus terminus of its namesake located along Petir Road (outside Block 108). The roadside bus terminus was later renamed Bukit Panjang Bus Terminal, alongside the name change for the new town in 1987.

Over the subsequent few years, 9 more trunk services were added to Bukit Panjang New Town between 1988 and 1999, while a new bus interchange was constructed in the Bukit Panjang Town Centre to serve as the primary transport node for the estate:

• Bus Service 5: Extended from Bukit Timah on 1 Jun 1986
• Bus Service 176: New trunk service to Jurong East via Bukit Batok from 24 Jan 1988
• Bus Service 187: New trunk service to Jurong via Bukit Batok from 10 Jul 1988, subsequently extended to Woodlands on 10 Mar 1996
• Bus Service 190: New trunk service to New Bridge Rd via Bukit Timah and Orchard from 10 Jul 1988, subsequently extended to Choa Chu Kang on 16 Dec 1990
• Bus Service 75: Extended from Clementi to Choa Chu Kang via Bukit Panjang on 31 Jul 1988, subsequently shortened to Bukit Panjang on 3 Jan 1993
• Bus Service 177: Extended from MINDEF HQ on 12 Mar 1990, connecting to Bukit Batok during peak hours on weekdays & Saturdays
• Bus Service 179: New trunk service to Choa Chu Kang from 3 Jan 1993
• Bus Service 184: New trunk service to Clementi via Bukit Timah from 3 Jul 1994
• Bus Service 180: New trunk service to Boon Lay from 10 Mar 1996
• Bus Service 521: New Express service to World Trade Centre via Bukit Batok from 1 Sep 1999

To link the neighbourhoods to the town centre, 3 new feeder bus services – 343, 344 & 345 – were also implemented by SBS (and later TIBS), operating from the roadside bus terminus along Petir Road since 1988.

To foster greater competition with SBS and expand the public bus market share for TIBS, the Singapore government announced the transfer of 9 bus services in Bukit Panjang to the new operator, which was conducted in 4 phases between July & October 1995. Bus Service 171, which passes through Bukit Panjang New Town, was also subsequently transferred to TIBS by the end of that year.

On 26th December 1999, the new Bukit Panjang Bus Interchange was opened, offering a pleasant environment for bus passengers to transfer and wait for their buses. However, a network rationalisation exercise was also conducted on the same day, following the opening of the Bukit Panjang LRT (BPLRT) system a month prior, which resulted in only 8 of the 11 originating bus services from Bukit Panjang Bus Terminal being relocated to the new interchange.

Summary of Post-Amendment Bus Routes in Bukit Panjang (as of 26 Dec 1999):

• 75: Bukit Panjang – Holland Road – Robinson Road – Marina Centre
• 171: Yishun – Bukit Panjang – Bukit Timah Road – Orchard Road – Marina Centre
• 176: Bukit Panjang – Bukit Batok – Jurong East – West Coast Highway – Bukit Merah
• 177: Bukit Panjang – MINDEF HQ – Bukit Batok
• 180: Bukit Panjang – Bukit Batok Road – Boon Lay Way – Boon Lay
• 184: Bukit Panjang – Beauty World – Clementi MRT (Loop)
• 187: Woodlands – Bukit Panjang – Bukit Batok – Jurong East – Boon Lay
• 190: Choa Chu Kang – Bukit Panjang – Orchard Road – New Bridge Road
• 343: Bukit Panjang – Petir Road End (Loop)
• 521: Bukit Panjang – Bukit Batok – Clementi – World Trade Centre
• 700: Bukit Panjang – Orchard Road – Shenton Way
• 700A: Bukit Panjang – Orchard Road – Suntec City (Loop)
• 960: Woodlands – Bukit Panjang – Little India – Bugis – Marina Centre

More detailed information for operational bus services can be found in the Historical Routes of Bus Services article.