In late September 2024, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) granted a two-year lifespan extension to the majority of Scania K230UB (Euro IV Batch 1) buses that were expected to be retired by the end of the year.
Out of 68 buses due for retirement, 56 buses received the lifespan extension, granting them the ability to operate until 2026.
This decision was unexpected, as buses in recent years have typically not received extensions beyond their statutory 17-year lifespan. Some Scania K230UB buses had even been retired early in the past several years.
Background
The first batch of Scania K230UB buses purchased by SBS Transit included 100 buses (registered SBS8034B – SBS8131D, SBS8138K & SBS8888D), along with one demonstrator unit (SBS8033D). These buses were registered between October and December 2007, and given the statutory lifespan of 17 years for public buses, they were expected to retire between October and December 2024.
Before the Bus Contracting Model (BCM) was implemented, the LTA had the authority to grant lifespan extensions for operator-owned buses, depending on their condition. These were granted to many models of operator-owned buses up to 2018, such as the Leyland Olympian, Volvo Olympian, Nissan Diesel U31RCN, Volvo B10M (Mark IV) & Mercedes-Benz O405G (Hispano Habit).
Early Retirement
Earlier in January 2022, SBS Transit retired several Volvo B9TL (CDGE) and Scania K230UB buses as part of a deal with LTA involving the transition of the Downtown Line to the New Rail Financing Framework (Version 2). As part of this deal, SBS Transit replaced 241 buses (144 double-deck and 97 single-deck buses) with newer, more environmentally friendly, and cost-efficient government-owned buses.
All 97 retired single-deck buses were Scania K230UB (Euro IV) models, consisting of 33 Batch 1 and 64 Batch 2 buses. Of these, 20 buses—13 from Batch 1 and 7 from Batch 2—were repurposed as hotel rooms at The Bus Collective.
Replacements & Possible Factors
In March 2023, the LTA called a tender for the procurement of 360 units of 3-door electric buses under Contract PT601. The contract was later awarded in November 2023, with progressive deployment of these new buses from December 2024.
LTA stated that these electric buses will “replace diesel buses that are reaching the end of their statutory lifespan.” This likely refers to the Scania K230UB (Euro IV) buses, whose lifespans are set to expire between October 2024 and January 2026.
In July 2024, LTA announced the Bus Connectivity Enhancement Programme (BCEP), which requires additional buses to improve existing services and introduce new ones. It is possible that the lifespan extensions granted in September 2024 are connected to the launch of the BCEP. Alternatively, these extensions might provide extra time between the retirement of older buses and the arrival of new ones, allowing for potential delays in the introduction of the new fleet.
Extension
Out of the 68 remaining operational Scania K230UB (Euro IV) batch 1 buses, 56 buses have received a 2-year lifespan extension. The remaining 12 buses will be retired at the end of their 17 year statutory lifespan by the end of 2024.
Under the BCM Jurong West Bus Package, 8 Scania K230UB (Euro IV) Batch 1 buses have been transferred from SBS Transit to SMRT Buses in September 2024. The lifespan of these buses were extended by 2 years as part of the 56 buses.