History of Jurong East Bus Services

Introduction:

Jurong East is one of Singapore’s latest satellite towns developed since the early 1980s, located in the 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 neighbouring housing estates of Clementi and Queenstown, 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, Jurong East Bus Interchange serves as the main transport hub for bus services (and later the MRT) in the housing estate, opening its doors on 30th June 1985 at Jurong East St 12 and Jurong East St 13. The current interim bus interchange, operational since 6th December 2020, is located opposite the bus interchange, and will be replaced by the upcoming Jurong East Integrated Transport Hub (ITH) in 2027.

Pre-Interchange Opening (1981 – 1985):

Before the development of Jurong East New Town, the area where the housing estate occupies today was mainly served by long distance trunk services along Jalan Ahmad Ibrahim, Upper Ayer Rajah Road, Jurong Town Hall Road and West Coast Road.

While Jurong was already served by the Jurong Bus Interchange since 1978, there were plans to expand the town further eastwards in the early 1980s, which led to the decision by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) to split the Jurong region into 2 smaller residential estates – Jurong West and Jurong East. While both estates are split along a section of Jurong Lake, several neighbourhoods in Jurong West (N4 & N5) are considered to be under the Jurong East planning area by the URA, and are mainly served by bus services from Jurong East Bus Interchange.

In Nov 1981, SBS introduced Jurong East’s 1st bus route – (former) Bus Service 76, connecting the then-developing housing estate with the adjacent Clementi New Town. This was on top of the former Jurong Bus Depot along Penjuru Road, which has served as the terminating point for Bus Service 143 since Feb 1981.

From there, 7 more trunk services were introduced in Jurong East New Town between 1983 and 1985, while a new bus interchange was constructed in the Jurong Regional Centre to serve as the primary transport node for the estate:

• Bus Service 76: New trunk service to Clementi from 24 Nov 1981
• Bus Service 79 (1st Gen): New trunk service to Chinatown/City Hall via Clementi, Queenstown and Bukit Merah from 27 Feb 1983, later merged with Bus Service 147
• Bus Service 97: New trunk service to Raffles Place via Pasir Panjang and World Trade Ctr from 29 Aug 1983, later extended to Hougang via City Hall/Little India
• Bus Service 98: New trunk service to Jurong from 1 Jan 1984
• Bus Service 147: Extended from Buona Vista on 1 Jul 1984, merged with Bus Service 79 (1st Gen)
• Bus Service 7: Extended from Clementi on 6 Jan 1985
• Bus Service 79 (2nd Gen): New trunk service to Raffles Place via Ayer Rajah and World Trade Ctr from 16 Jun 1985
• Bus Service 99: New trunk service to Boon Lay Gdns from 16 Jun 1985

To link the neighbourhoods to the town centre, 4 new feeder bus services – 333, 334, 335 & 336 – were also implemented by SBS, operating from the interim bus terminal along Jurong East Central since 1983.

On 30th June 1985, the new Jurong East Bus Interchange was opened, offering a pleasant environment for bus passengers to transfer and wait for their buses. All 11 bus services were relocated to the new interchange from the roadside bus terminal along Jurong East Central.

Summary of Post-Amendment Bus Routes in Jurong East (as of 30 Jun 1985):

• 7: Jurong East – Clementi – Orchard Road – Geylang – Bedok
• 76: Jurong East – Clementi (Loop)
• 79: Jurong East – Ayer Rajah Road – World Trade Centre – Empress Place (Loop)
• 97: Jurong East – Pasir Panjang Road – World Trade Centre – Raffles Place – Little India – Hougang
• 98: Jurong East – Jurong East/West Avenue 1 – Corporation Drive – Jurong (Loop)
• 99: Jurong East – Jurong East/West Avenue 1 – Boon Lay Gardens (Loop)
• 147: Jurong East – Clementi – Jalan Bukit Merah – Chinatown – Little India – Potong Pasir
• 157: Jurong – Jurong Town Hall Road – Bukit Batok – Bukit Timah Road – Toa Payoh
• 178: Jurong – Jurong Town Hall Road – Bukit Batok – Upper Bukit Timah Road – Woodlands
• 333: Jurong East – Jurong East Street 32 (Loop)
• 334: Jurong East – Jurong West Street 42 (Loop)
• 335: Jurong East – Jurong West Street 52 (Loop)
• 336: Jurong East – Jurong West Street 41 (Loop)

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