History of Tampines Bus Services

Introduction:

Tampines is one of Singapore’s latest satellite towns developed since the early 1980s, located in the eastern 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 Bedok and Somapah, 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, Tampines Bus Interchange serves as the main transport hub for bus services (and later the MRT) in the housing estate, opening its doors on 29th November 1987 at the junctions of Tampines Central 1, Tampines Central 2 and Tampines Central 3. The bus interchange will be replaced by the upcoming Tampines Integrated Transport Hub (ITH) in the future.

Pre-Interchange Opening (1983 – 1987):

Before the development of Tampines New Town, the area where the housing estate occupies today was mainly served by long distance trunk services along Tampines Road and Upper Changi Road.

In May 1982, SBS introduced Tampines’ 1st bus route – Bus Service 18, connecting the then-developing housing estate with the adjacent Bedok New Town. This was on top of the former Somapah Bus Terminal along Upper Changi Road, which has served as the terminating point for Bus Services 10, 11, 12, 14 & 155 since Jun 1981.

From there, 6 more trunk services were introduced in Tampines New Town between 1983 and 1987, while a new bus interchange was constructed in the Tampines Regional Centre to serve as the primary transport node for the estate:

• Bus Service 18: New trunk service to Bedok from 2 May 1982
• Bus Service 23: New trunk service to Orchard Road from 20 Feb 1983
• Bus Service 28: New trunk service to New Bridge Road from 4 Sep 1983
• Bus Service 10: Extended from Somapah on 27 May 1984
• Bus Service 31: Extended from Bedok on 7 Apr 1985
• Bus Service 29: New trunk service to Changi Airport Cargo Complex from 9 Jun 1985
• Bus Service 65: Extended from MacPherson on 12 Apr 1987

To link the neighbourhoods to the town centre, 5 new feeder bus services – 290, 292, 293, 294 & 297 – were also implemented by SBS, operating from the interim bus terminal along Tampines Avenue 5 since 1983.

On 29th November 1987, the new Tampines Bus Interchange was opened, offering a pleasant environment for bus passengers to transfer and wait for their buses. All 12 bus services were relocated to the new interchange from the roadside bus terminal along Tampines Avenue 5. The 2nd phase of the bus interchange opened on 21st August 1988, catering to more new and amended bus services to serve the developing housing estate.

Summary of Post-Amendment Bus Routes in Tampines (as of 29 Nov 1987):

• 10: Tampines – East Coast Road – Shenton Way – World Trade Centre – Jurong
• 23: Tampines – Little India – Orchard Road (Loop)
• 28: Tampines – Bedok – Geylang – Bugis – New Bridge Road
• 29: Tampines – Upper Changi Road – Changi Airport Cargo Complex (Loop)
• 31: Tampines – Bedok – Marine Parade – Kallang Park/National Stadium (Loop)
• 65: Tampines – Bedok Reservoir Road – MacPherson Estate – Orchard Road – World Trade Centre
• 290: Tampines – Simei Street 1 (Loop)
• 292: Tampines – Tampines Street 22 (Loop)
• 293: Tampines – Tampines Street 81 (Loop)
• 294: Tampines – Tampines Street 21 (Loop)
• 297: Tampines – Tampines Street 42 (Loop)

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