Operations Transfer to Trans-Island Bus Services (1983):
In 1982, Trans-Island Bus Services (TIBS) was established as Singapore’s 2nd public bus operator to foster greater competition in the public transport system with the incumbent SBS. To kickstart the operations for the new bus operator, the government proposed the handover of 12 bus services operating in the areas of Sembawang and Woodlands from SBS to TIBS in several stages in 1983.
The 1st Woodlands service to be handed over to TIBS was Bus Service 169, which was implemented on 5th June 1983. The remaining 7 Woodlands bus services would follow suit in the subsequent months, until the completion of the handover exercise in Oct 1983 with the official transfer of former Feeder Bus Service 372 (present-day Feeder Bus Service 903).
Expansion of Woodlands New Town & Relocation of Bus Interchange:
To cater to Singapore’s increasing population, the government proposed a further expansion of Woodlands New Town eastwards in the late 1980s, with the development of 4 additional neighbourhoods in Woodlands East (or Admiralty). With the increased size of the residential estate, the existing town centre became less sufficient in meeting the needs of the would-be regional centre after the expansion of the town.
Thus, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) proposed the development of a new regional centre for the new town at Woodlands Square, which would comprise of the Causeway Point shopping mall, Woodlands Civic Centre, as well as Singapore’s 1st underground bus interchange. Constructed at a cost of S$34 million by the Mass Rapid Transit Corporation (MRTC) (the predecessor of SMRT), the new interchange would integrate bus services from the existing Woodlands Bus Interchange along Woodlands Centre Road, as well as the Marsiling Bus Terminal along Admiralty Road.
The new and larger underground bus interchange was eventually opened on 4th February 1996, about a week before the opening of the Woodlands MRT Extension on the North South Line (NSL). The opening of the new MRT extension also saw the rationalisation of several trunk services in Woodlands, which were implemented a month later on 10th March 1996.
Summary of Post-Amendment Bus Routes in Woodlands (as of 10 Mar 1996):
- 169: Woodlands – Yishun – Ang Mo Kio
- 178: Woodlands – Bukit Batok – Jurong Town Hall Road – Boon Lay
- 181: Woodlands – Bukit Timah – Bukit Merah – Chinatown – Marina Centre* – Crawford Street
- 187: Woodlands – Bukit Panjang – Bukit Batok – Boon Lay
- 856: Woodlands – Admiralty Road West – Yishun
- 858: Woodlands – Woodlands Avenue 9 – Yishun
- 900: Woodlands – Woodlands Street 13 – Woodlands Checkpoint Terminal (Loop)
- 901: Woodlands – Woodlands Street 83 – Woodlands Avenue 4 (Loop)
- 902: Woodlands – Woodlands Avenue 1 – Woodlands Street 41 (Loop)
- 903: Woodlands – Marsiling Lane – Woodlands Centre Road (Loop)
- 904: Woodlands – Marsiling Road – Woodlands Checkpoint Terminal (Loop)
- 925: Woodlands – Kranji Way – Sungei Kadut^ – Choa Chu Kang^
- 925#: Woodlands – Kranji Way – Sungei Buloh Nature Pk (Loop)*
- 926: Woodlands – Singapore Zoo (Loop)
^Weekdays & Saturdays only
*Sundays & Public Holidays only
More detailed information for operational bus services can be found in the Historical Routes of Bus Services article.