Scania K230UB (Euro V Batch 1) buses are being granted extensions to their statutory 17-year lifespan.
This batch of 400 buses were registered in 2009, featuring only one wheelchair bay and more seats as compared to the earlier batches of Euro IV Scania K230UB buses. These buses were originally due for retirement between March to October 2026.
Other bus models receiving lifespan extension recently are the Mercedes-Benz OC500LE buses & the earlier Scania K230UB (Euro IV) Batch 1 & Batch 2 buses.
Lifespan Extensions
As of 10 January 2026, the first 20 buses in this batch have received an extension to their lifespan (which would have expired in March 2026). These are SBS8562T, SBS8563R, SBS8565K – SBS8573L & SBS8575G – SBS8583H.
In April 2026, the subsequent 15 buses were de-registered (reflected as on LTA OneMotoring), only to be reinstated back days later with a lifespan extension.
Back to Scania K230UB
Those A22 E5 transferred from SMRT GBDEP can just stay in SBST even though just recently those deregistered E5 KUBs got lifespan extension, the A22 were meant as replacement. SBST should keep them anyways, lets not forget all the Remaining Euro IV Batch 1 KUBs are retiring this year starting in October. The A22s can then replace those KUBs then.
True… the man a22 buses have better interior in my opinion, but need 56 replacements which is kinda alot..
add on
There should he more electric buses coming in late 2026, so it can replace some buses in Tampines and Serangoon-Eunos Bus Package, so they can also replace the KUB Euro 4 Batch 1 buses
What an absolute joke, flip flopping again. Happened before with the OCs, was supposed to not extend, then extended, then some units got laid up, then reinstated again. E4 KUB some units got extended just to be manually deregistered after. And now this.
its probably because they got enough replacements thats why the extend then retire
Whatever it is, it just shows a lack of forward thinking and that they’re just reacting to salvage the situation. The first mistake was in not procuring enough new buses in the first place to retire units that were reaching 17 years old – purchasing only 420 e-buses when they knew they had to retire about 1000 KUBS + 134 OCs.
Even at this stage, they could have at least had a clear plan – we know we need to extend X units by 2 years in the meantime, and thus we should identify which are the X units that need to be extended, do it properly and ensure that these units are in good condition, and properly retire the rest that are in poorer shape. But instead we have this huge mess with every single permutation available – those that are extended, those that are retired, those that were initially extended and then suddenly retired, and those that were initially retired but then suddenly brought back from the dead?? It just shows that they can’t make up their mind over what they want, which is scary when dealing with something like a vehicle which carries fare-paying passengers.
As of 7 April, still no extension for April batch. Wonder if it will happen or if they will continue culling…
idt they will extend anymore Scania K230UB buses?
A bit surprising considering how they extended a large majority of the Euro IV units. At the rate we are going, looks like at least the entire April batch will be wiped.
Just some quick rough maths, around 130 combined units of Euro IV KUB + OC were retired in 2024/25, whereas a total of 420 e-bus units were brought in, so we are sitting on an excess. Taking into consideration the units needed for new routes (18M, 45x, 831, 97 etc) we can probably afford to retire about 250 Euro V units if they choose to go down that route until the next batch of e-buses arrive, but definitely more will need to be extended.
My completely uninformed, outsider guess is that the ones in charge prioritised the Euro IV units over the Euro V – because the Euro IV units have two wheelchair berths as opposed to one on the Euro V. Thus making the Euro IV closer to the latest LTA spec and more desirable. We’ll have to see how the next months play out if more units keep getting retired…
they better extend more, cuz some of the extended Scania K230UB Euro 4 Batch 2 are in bad condition from what I observed, mostly from 410G, and other services across the whole SBST fleet. idt they will be able to survive 2 years, unless they lay up, maintenance, and put in spare bus like OC500LE
Honestly I blame LTA for a lot of this mess. Committing to 100% e-bus for all new bus orders was absolute lunacy when, at the time, not a single depot was properly equipped to handle it yet. They should have at least made a parallel order of diesel or at least hybrid units to ensure that the older units can be retired gracefully when they are no longer roadworthy. The KUBs are now a ticking time bomb that we still need to wait longer to defuse.
I suggest you to write in and complain to both LTA and SBST when you encounter a unit that is in unacceptable state. Show them what issues they have caused and put pressure on them to do better.
Cannot one la. Now it is 1 to 2 K230UB per month de-registration until Go-Ahead takeover.
A vehicle that reaches the lifespan expiry date is sent to inspection before being pre-certified for extension by 2 more years.
SBS8585C – SBS8593D
SBS8595Z – SBS8603J
SBS8605D – SBS8613E
SBS8615A – SBS8623B
SBS8625X – SBS8633Y
SBS8635S – SBS8643T
SBS8645M – SBS8653P
SBS8655J – SBS8663K
SBS8665E – SBS8673G
SBS8675B – SBS8683C
SBS8685Y – SBS8693Z
SBS8695T – SBS8703D
SBS8705Z – SBS8713A
SBS8715U – SBS8723X
SBS8725R – SBS8733S
SBS8735L – SBS8742R
SBS8745H – SBS8753J
SBS8755D – SBS8763E
SBS8765A – SBS8773B
SBS8775X – SBS8783Y
SBS8785S – SBS8793T
SBS8795M – SBS8803Z
SBS8805T – SBS8813U
SBS8815P – SBS8823R
SBS8825K – SBS8833L
SBS8835G – SBS8843H
SBS8845C – SBS8853D
SBS8855Z – SBS8863A
SBS8865U – SBS8873X
SBS8875R – SBS8887G
SBS8889B – SBS8899Y
SBS8901Z – SBS8913P
SBS8915J – SBS8923K
SBS8925E – SBS8943C
SBS8945Y – SBS8963U
SBS8965P – SBS8973R
SBS8975K – SBS8999S The Remaining 377 Scania K230UB Euro V Batch 1 Buses Are Still Subjected to 2 Year Lifespan Extension Till 2028 or 2029.
idts
Not all will be extended, but they will need to extend some Euro V batch 1 till the next batch of electric buses arrive. Because from now till the end of the year there will be several Euro V batch 1 being de-registered every week. We might not have enough buses if they chose to retire them before the new electric buses arrive
now is already not enough already
I think BYDs will be replacing Scania K230UB now, at Gali Batu Bus Depot. More registered buses are on the way (Batch 2).
Good to extend these buses. When the new EV buses arrive, there may be some teething issues like with the BYDs & Zhongtongs and it would be good to have these as backups/standbys if needed. And honestly 17 year lifespan is too short and besides the buses have only undergone refurbishment not too long ago so they are still in relatively good condition, better make the most use of these buses